It's Never Easy
by redKardinal
Summary: When Clank suffers an excruciating heartbreak, he is made to move in with his father. Hours away from the friends he knows and trusts, he is stuck in an unfamiliar town and unsure how to cope with his emotions.
1. The Move

**Note, This is a human AU. There are characters pulled from other fandoms, but the story is primarily about Tinkerbell characters, primarily Clank.**

* * *

Moving is never easy. Packing up everything you have, picking up your entire life and going someplace new, where nobody knows your name or anything about you, there is nothing easy about that. Saying goodbye to old friends, that's tough too. It's especially hard when you never wanted to leave in the first place. But it happens, and there's not much you can do but grit your teeth and go with it, or in Clank's case, stare out the car window and refuse to acknowledge anything said to you.

That wasn't too hard, seeing as how Gary hadn't been much for conversation. That was fine by him, he didn't have anything to say to his father anyway. Instead he took to counting how many dogs he'd seen on the drive. They had been in the car for nearly two hours now. Just one to go, and he could finally get out of this car and be alone like he wanted to.

"Did you hear me?" Gary asked.

Clank didn't answer, finding the side of the road more interesting. _Qui est cinq chiens maintenant._

"Clank, I asked if you were hungry. Do you want to stop and get something to eat?" Gary asked.

"Non." Clank said simply.

Gary sighed, "We cleared out the spare bedroom for you. I can help you set it up if you want." Clank just pulled out his iPod and scrolled through his music. "I know you're upset, Clank. You have every right to be. I'm trying to help though. Don't shut me out."

Clank stuck his earbuds in and let the music drown out Gary's voice. He crossed his arms and closed his eyes, not wanting to think about where he was going, but rather of where he'd just left.

 _A bunch of his friends had come to send him off. All gave him sad smiles and hugs as Gary loaded his luggage into the back of the car. They'd been such good friends since he moved there ten years ago, even though most of them were older than him._

 _"_ _Hey, three hours isn't too long to drive." Lance said. "You say the word, I'll shove everyone in my car and come find you."_

 _"_ _You'll be sixteen next month," Pidge said. "Once you have your license you could come see us too."_

 _"_ _Yeah, man and you know you're always welcome at Casa de Lance." Lance said, throwing an arm around his shoulder._

 _"_ _Seriously, we're here if you need us." Hunk said giving him a big bear hug._

 _"_ _You know how to reach us." Keith said, patting him on the shoulder._

 _His neighbor had shown up to say goodbye as well. He'd only met him a week ago, but was glad he was there. He shook Clank's hand "Prenez soin de vous." He said._

 _"_ _Je vais, Jean." He replied. He couldn't look anyone in the eye as he climbed into the car, parting gifts from everyone in the seat behind him with the exception of the new green iPod from Lance with CLANK written on the back in black sharpie. He wanted so bad to not get in the car and stay with one of them. He didn't cry when they drove off, but his emotions completely shut off._

"Clank?" Gary's voice broke through the music. Clank grimaced but kept his eyes shut. "Clank, wake up. We're here."

Clank silently pulled his headphones off and climbed out of the car, grabbing his backpack from the back seat as well as the rest of the things his friends had given him. He followed Gary inside. It had been years since he'd been here, and he barely remembered it.

"Terence! We're home!" Gary shouted out.

"Coming!" a voice rang out from the other room. A boy about a year younger than Clank ran into the kitchen. "Hey dad, how was the drive?"

"Quiet." Gary replied. "Have you eaten yet?"

Terence nodded. "Yeah, went and got something with Tink. Should I have waited?"

"No, it's alright. I can make something." Gary replied. "Clank, what are you hungry for?"

"Je n'ai pas faim." Clank said. Terence turned his attention to Clank.

"Hey, Clank, right? I'm Terence." Terence held out his hand to Clank who just stared at it.

"Nous avons rencontré avant." Clank said blankly.

"Uh…" Terence withdrew his hand. "What?"

"You're going to have to speak English, Clank." Gary said. "Neither of us know French very well."

"Je ne veux pas." Clank said bitterly.

Terence stared at Clank, unsure what to think before turning back to Gary. "Dad, Tink and her friends are going to the movies later, can I go with them?"

"Who all is going?" Gary asked.

"Well, her sister and brother are going. And I think Rosetta Iridessa and Silvermist are going too." Terence said. Clank glanced toward him curiously.

"That should be fine then. Do you need a ride?" Gary asked.

"Nah, Tink's brother's driving. So I can catch a ride with them." Terence said.

"Alright." Gary looked over at Clank, nodding to him slightly.

Terence got the hint. "Clank, do you wanna come?"

Clank stared for a minute then shook his head. "Non…Merci quand même."

Terence stared for a moment. "Um… Okay… Lemme know if you change your mind…"

"Je vais." Clank nodded.

"Terence, can you show Clank where his room is?" Gary asked. "I'll get the rest of his things from the car."

"Sure thing!" Terence said. "C'mon, Clank." He waved for Clank to follow him. They went upstairs, and Terence showed Clank an empty room with a stripped bed, a cleared off desk and a dresser with all the drawers pulled out. Clank set his backpack down on the bed, vague memories of when he was little drifting through his mind.

"Okay, so this is your room. Mine's next door. Dad's is down the hall. The bathroom's right across from my room." Terence explained.

"Je Connais" Clank sighed.

"Do you… speak English at all?" Terence asked.

Clank sighed. "Oui."

Terence turned to him. "Well, then why don't you?"

"Je ne veux pas oublier." Clank muttered.

Terence stared. "I have no idea what you said." Clank just shrugged. "Well… okay, um. My friends are gonna be here in an hour, so I'm gonna go get ready. Lemme know if you decide to come along."

"D'accord." Clank said, sitting on the bed. Terence hovered a moment longer before leaving without another word. Clank pulled his headphones out again and turned up the music until it almost hurt his ears. He was rather impressed that Lance had managed to get most of his favorite songs on there. He hadn't realized he'd paid attention to the kind of things he listened to. He rubbed his eyes and pushed the thought aside, going through the other things his friends had given him.

He pulled a binder to his lap that read in big letters B&G's Cook Book. He flipped through the pages. There were several recipes he liked to make. Several others he'd never tried, and even more that he and Hunk had made up together, and a note on the front page that said "Hope you feel at home when you make these." Clank closed the binder and set it on the empty desk.

Clank picked up the box from Pidge and found a model kit inside. "just in case the books don't interest you" the note said. He put the model aside and pulled out books on car engine maintenance and other mechanical engineering. Clank rolled his eyes, amused, and set those aside as well.

He picked up Keith's present. A stuffed lion. Clank had no need for it. He wasn't sure why Keith gave it to him. He was pretty sure that Keith didn't know either. He wasn't that good at picking meaningful gifts. His note said "Gonna miss you." And that was it. Clank appreciated it. As awkward as Keith was about showing how he cared about his friends, Clank knew that he did indeed care. He set the lion on the dresser.

Finally he picked up a small box that Jean had given him. It had a note tied to it as well. He thought it was strange that a man who he'd only met a week ago gave him a farewell gift. He unfolded the note and read it.

 _Clement, s'il vous plaît ne pas ouvrir pendant un certain temps. Donnez votre nouvelle maison et votre père une chance. Essayez de faire des amis, et essayer et laissez-vous guérir. Attendez au moins trois mois. Ensuite, vous pouvez ouvrir. Dans le même temps, faire de votre mieux pour adapter à ces changements._

 _-Jean._

Clank stared at the box. What in the world could be inside? He picked it up and shook it. Something rattled inside, but he couldn't tell what it was. He chewed his lip and started to lift the lid. "Non." He pressed the lid back down and pulled open his desk drawer and stuck the box in the back. "Trois mois…" he mumbled, sitting back on the bed. He glanced up to see Gary in the doorway setting down his suitcases.

"Do you need help unpacking?" Gary asked when Clank pulled his headphones off. Clank shook his head. "Are you sure?" Clank just nodded. "Alright, There's still a few things in the car. I'll bring them up for you."

"Merci." Clank said.

Gary sighed. "Clank, I know why you're doing that, but I really need you to speak English to me."

Clank's brow furrowed as he grabbed his suitcase. "Dommage" he grunted, unzipping the case.

Gary groaned. "Well fine. When you're ready to actually talk to me, I'll be downstairs."

Clank shoved his earbuds back in and began emptying the suitcase. He put his clothes in the drawers and closet, then started putting his more personal belongings on the shelves of the desk. A bunch of pictures, some books, his laptop, and a broken sculpture. He shoved the empty cases in his closet and flopped onto his bed, covering his face with the pillow.

"Tink's here!" he heard Terence shout out over his music. "Clank, you coming?"

"Non, va-t-en!" Clank yelled through the pillow.

Terence paused. "Suit yourself." He headed down the hall, yelling out "Dad! I'm heading out!" Clank lifted the pillow off his face and went to the window and stared at the old station wagon out front. Terence climbed in the back seat with a small blonde girl whom Clank assumed was Tink. The car stayed put for a few minutes, then another girl with snow-white hair climbed out of the car and came up to the house.

Moments later, Gary was back in his doorway. "Clank, they really want to meet you. Why don't you go with them?"

"Non." Clank grunted, facing away from the door.

"I really think it would be good for you." Gary said gently.

"Non!" Clank said more firmly, he stared out the window and could see Terence looking up at him.

Gary took two steps into the room. "Clank. Please. It's been two weeks since… you know… I really think you would feel better if you…"

"I don't want to go!" Clank snapped, turning on his father, shaking slightly. The two of them stared at each other, Clank's words hanging in the air. He suddenly realized what he said and covered his mouth and turned back to the window.

Gary laid a hand on his son's shoulder, "I'll tell them you aren't feeling well." Clank pulled his shoulder away and said nothing and Gary left the room, closing the door behind him. A moment later Clank watched as the white haired girl returned to the station wagon. The boy driving the car looked up briefly before driving off.

Clank went back to his bed and laid down, turning his music the rest of the way up, no longer caring if it hurt his ears. Everywhere else hurt so why shouldn't his ears suffer too? His breath shook as he curled his arms around himself and squeezed his eyes shut. Tears dripped onto his pillow, and slowly he began to sob. Eventually Clank cried himself to sleep, just as he'd done every night for the past two weeks.


	2. Therapy

Clank refused to leave the house for the next ten days. He barely left his room, barely ate, and barely slept. Gary kept trying to talk to him and comfort him, but Clank continued to brush him off. He continued speaking only in French, which was beginning to frustrate Gary and Terence, the latter of whom had quit trying to talk to Clank. Gary resorted to only asking yes/no questions in order to communicate with Clank, but even that proved difficult when Clank simply chose not to respond

After ten days of this, Gary began looking into ways to get through to Clank. Late in the afternoon he went to Clank's room, letting himself in without knocking. Clank was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. "Qu'est-ce que tu veux?" Clank mumbled.

Gary pulled out the desk chair and sat beside Clank. "Son, I know you're depressed right now, for good reason." Clank rolled away from Gary, staring at the wall. "I made some calls… I've made an appointment for you to see a psychiatrist tomorrow."

Clank sat up, looking annoyed. "Je ne pas besoin de voir un psychiatre!"

"Yes you do, Clank." Gary said, being able to understand what he said through context. "You won't talk to me or your brother. You really need to talk to someone to work through this. I know you must feel-"

"Ne prétendez pas que vous savez ce que je ressens! Tu ne sais pas ce je vais à travers! Tu ne l'aimes comme je l'ai fait!" Clank snapped.

Gary stared. He had no idea what Clank said. "You can yell at me all you want, but I'm not budging on this one. You're going to that appointment tomorrow."

"Non!" Clank yelled. "Je ne vais pas!"

"Yes you are." Gary said firmly. "If you're not going to let me help you then this is what we have to do. You're going and that's final." Clank clenched his jaw, seething. He crossed his arms and turned back to the wall wordlessly. Gary stood up with a sigh. "The appointment is at ten. Be ready to go by nine thirty, alright?"

Clank didn't move, didn't speak, Gary rubbed his back a little. "You're going to get through this, son." Gary whispered, then left the room. He went down to the kitchen to make dinner. Terence was playing a video game in the living room. "Terence, can you get the table set?" Gary called over the counter.

"In a minute!" Terence answered, repeatedly smashing the A button on the controller. "C'mon… c'mon…! YEAH!"

"NOW, Terence." Gary said heating up the stove.

Terence groaned. "Alright, alright." He paused his game and went to pull dishes from the cupboard. "Two places or three?" he asked.

"Three, Terence. Always three." Gary replied seriously.

"He never comes down for dinner. Why do I need to set a place for him?" Terence asked as he pulled down three plates.

"Your brother's heartbroken right now." Gary said. "You would be too if you were him."

Terence shrugged. "Yeah, I know. It just sucks, dad. I always thought Clank was gonna be this happy, upbeat guy. But he's such a sad sack."

"You can't expect him to bounce back so quickly." Gary said. "and you could stand to be a little nicer to him." Gary laid three pork chops into the pan and started boiling water to make rice.

"He doesn't exactly make it easy, you know." Terence argued.

"Well, think how he feels. He's gone from the life he's used to, living with family he hardly knows, in a town he hasn't lived in since he was five." Gary said. "I may not like it, but I can admit that he has every right to feel bitter."

Terence sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right." He finished setting the table and was about to return to his game, but turned to Gary again. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"I hope so." Gary said. "It's too soon to say." Gary continued cooking, and Terence went back to his game. After a while, Gary told Terence supper was ready and to let Clank know. Terence headed upstairs and stuck his head in Clank's room. He was lying on his stomach, staring at his phone.

Terence cleared his throat. "Clank? Uh… Dinner's ready." Clank looked over at him, his eyes were red and puffy. "You okay?" Clank shook his head. "You wanna talk about it?"

"Non." Clank rasped.

Terence stared at the floor. "Alright… well. Dinner's ready… if you're hungry."

"D'accord." Clank said weakly. Terence stared at Clank, who had turned away, then headed downstairs where Gary was serving himself the food he'd made. Terence took Clank's plate and loaded it up with food.

"What are you doing?" Gary asked.

"Bringing Clank dinner." Terence explained. "He's obviously too depressed to come downstairs, but the guy's gotta eat, right?" Terence poured a glass of milk and headed for the stairs. Gary smiled watching Terence go, and began eating. Terence set the dishes on Clank's desk, alerting Clank to his presence once again. Terence gave him a small grin.

"Dad's pork chops are actually pretty good." Terence said. "Didn't want you to miss out."

Clank slowly sat up and took the plate in his lap. "Merci, Terence." He mumbled.

"Hey, no broblem, bro." Terence shrugged. "There's probably gonna be left overs if that's not enough. I hope you like it." Terence turned and headed out of the room. Clank stared down at the meal in his lap for a minute or two before grabbing the utensils and cutting into it.

The next morning Gary knocked on Clank's door at eight thirty. "Clank, it's time to get up."

"Je suis révillé." Clank called from the other side of the door. Gary was surprised he actually answered.

"May I come in?" Gary asked.

"Oui." Clank replied. Gary pushed open the door and found Clank sitting in the corner of his bed, looking at a book on car engines. On his desk were his dishes from dinner last night. Much to Gary's surprise the plate was actually empty.

"Did… you enjoy dinner last night?" Gary asked.

"Oui," Clank said. "il allait bien."

Gary picked up the dishes. "Do you want anything for breakfast?"

"Non." Clank replied. "Je n'ai pas faim."

"Are you sure? I could make some bacon and eggs. Or pancakes."

"Non merci." Clank said, not looking away from his book.

Gary eyed Clank carefully. This was the best he'd seen him since he got here. "Alright. We're leaving for the psychiatrist in an hour, so you need to get dressed."

"D'accord." Clank mumbled.

Gary went downstairs and made coffee, within moments he heard the shower running. That usually meant Terence would be spending the day with Tinkerbell. But to Gary's surprise, Terence jogged into the kitchen dressed in his running clothes.

"Morning, Dad." He greeted. "I'm going for a run with Buck and Fawn. Might go play soccer with them after."

"Is Clank in the shower?" Gary questioned.

Terence stopped and listened. "Huh, I guess he is. Unless I have another new half sibling here you forgot to mention."

"Very funny." Gary rolled his eyes with a grin. "Bring a key with you. I'm taking Clank to see a doctor."

"Is he sick?" Terence asked.

"Not that kind of doctor." Gary sighed.

"What do you… Oh…" Terence said. "Well, hopefully it helps."

"Yes, let's hope it does." Gary agreed.

Twenty minutes after Terence left, Clank came down stairs, shoving his phone in his pocket. Gary glanced up from the newspaper and checked the time. "We don't have to leave just yet if you want to grab something to eat."

"Je vais bien." Clank said, sitting down to put his shoes on. "Finissons-en."

Gary stared a moment, took a sip of his coffee and looked back down at the newspaper. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"Je vaiss chercher moi-même." Clank said, getting up and going to the fridge. He got the orange juice and went to get a glass.

"Clank, I could have done that for you." Gary said.

"C'est d'accord." Clank replied. When he finished his drink he went to the door and said "Je suis prêt à partir."

"It's still early." Gary said. Clank just stared at him. Gary sighed and grabbed his keys. The drive was quiet, just as it had been when Gary helped Clank move. They arrived early, just like Gary thought they would. Clank braided his hair while he waited to be called back, wishing he'd brought his book with him.

"Clement?" a woman called, Clank looked up. "Dr. Bell will see you now." Clank stood, and followed the woman, Gary gave him an encouraging smile as he walked back. The psychiatrist was a middle aged, balding man, and Clank was already thinking about how to tell him nothing.

"Good morning, Clement." Dr. Bell said, offering his hand to Clank.

"Bonjour." Clank replied, shaking his hand before sitting down in the chair across from him.

"I understand you're going through a troubling time right now. Your family is worried about you." Dr. Bell said. "You just moved in with your father two weeks ago?"

"Oui." Clank confirmed.

"How is that going for you? Do you like living with your father?" Dr. Bell asked.

Clank stared at the wall. "Pas vraiment."

Dr. Bell raised an eyebrow. "Clement, vous devez savoir que je parle françes. Si vous avez décidé de ne pas me parler en utilisant une barrier de la langue, vous voudrez peut-être repenser."

Clank sighed. "Of course you speak French." He mumbled. "No. I don't like living with Gary."

"Any particular reason why not?" Dr. Bell questioned.

"Gee, I dunno. Maybe I'm not too keen on the idea of uprooting my entire life to go live with a man I've barely heard from since I was five." Clank blurted out. He covered his mouth and stared at the wall. He hadn't meant to say that much.

Dr. Bell crossed his legs and folded his hands in front of his chin. "Do you mind telling me why there was so little contact for so long?" Clank didn't answer and stared into the corner. "Clement?"

"I'd rather not talk about my family." Clank said softly.

"That's fine. Let's talk about something else. You're in high school, right?" Dr. Bell asked. Clank nodded. "Do you play any sports?"

"I played offensive tackle on my school's football team last year." Clank said.

"And? Was your team good?"

"Pas vraiment." Clank shrugged. "We lost half our games."

"But did you enjoy playing?" Dr. Bell asked.

Clank glanced at the psychiatrist. "Je suppose."

Dr. Bell tapped his fingers together. "What other activities did you enjoy at school?"

"Shop class." Clank said. "I've always liked making things."

"What kind of things did you make?" Dr. Bell asked.

"Nothing that great. A lamp, a chair, stuff like that." Clank sighed.

"Did any of it come with you on the move?" Dr. Bell asked.

"Just a picture frame." Clank said.

"Do you have a picture in it?" Dr. Bell asked.

"Oui."

"What's the picture?"

Clank squirmed. "Of my old friends."

"Your old friends?" Dr. Bell asked. "Tell me about them, what are their names?"

Clank stared at the floor. "I'll tell you their initials. LM, KK, HG, PH, TS."

Dr. Bell cracked a grin. "And were you close with them?"

"Oui." Clank nodded. "We've been friends since I was a kid."

"Were you dating any of them?" Dr. Bell asked.

"Non." Clank said.

"Were you dating someone before you moved?" Dr. Bell asked.

Clank grimaced. "Yes, but I don't want to talk about it."

"That's fine. We don't have to talk about it." Dr. Bell said. "Why don't you tell me a little bit about your other friends?"

"Why?" Clank asked.

"I'm just trying to get to know you a little better." Dr. Bell explained. "It's only our first meeting after all."

"They're… great. All of them." Clank said crossing his arms. "They've been texting me every day since I left."

"Were any of them the one who convinced you to call your father?" the psychiatrist asked.

"I thought we weren't talking about my family." Clank grumbled.

"I was asking about your friends, not your father." Dr. Bell said.

Clank sighed. "Non. It was my neighbor."

"Your neighbor." Dr. Bell repeated. "What's their name?"

"JP." Clank replied.

"Did you know this JP very well?" Dr. Bell asked.

"Non. I'd only met him a week before I moved." Clank admitted.

"Then how was he the one who got you to call your father?" Dr. Bell questioned.

Clank sighed, thinking about the conversation with Jean. "I was living with him. He told me I couldn't stay with him and that I needed to call Gary."

"Why were you living with him?" Dr. Bell asked.

"Same reason I'm speaking English to you now. No language barrier." Clank shrugged.

Dr. Bell leaned back in his chair. "Care to elaborate on that?"

Clank bit his lip. "Actually, no. I really don't want to talk about that."

"Alright. Lets move on then." Dr. Bell said. "Have you made any friends since moving in with your dad?"

"Non." Clank said. "My brother wanted me to meet some of his friends the day I got here, but I didn't want to."

"That's understandable. You were probably tired from the drive, and tired from all the emotional pain you've been experiencing." Dr. Bell said.

"Oui. So I stayed in my room." Clank sighed. "I had a friend when I lived here before. I doubt they'd remember me at this point, or if they still even live here."

"What's this friend's name?" Dr. Bell asked.

Clank thought a moment. "I don't remember, actually."

"What do you remember about them?"

"We used to play in the river by our houses. We lived next door to each other and would see each other every day. We were friends since we were two." Clank swallowed. "Désolé. I guess I miss them."

"Maybe you should try looking them up." Dr. Bell suggested.

Clank took a deep breath. "Peut être"

After an hour of talking, and dodging certain questions, Dr. Bell said their hour was up. "I'll see you next week, Clement."

"Merci." Clank said, ready to switch back to French. He returned to the waiting room to find Gary, and got in the car.

"Do you want to pick up some lunch somewhere?" Gary asked.

"Non." Clank said flatly

"Clank, you haven't eaten since last night." Gary pointed out.

"Je n'ai pas faim." Clank replied.

Gary was getting used to that phrase. "Let me know if you change your mind." Gary said, driving home. Clank closed himself in his room again when they got home and pulled open his laptop. He had messages from both Hunk and Lance, but chose to ignore them for now. He pulled up Facebook and went to Terence's page and began scrolling through his friends.

"Vous connaissez-vous?" he muttered looking at all the names and faces in the list. Terence seemed to know a lot of people but he didn't seem to have that familiar face that Clank knew anywhere in his friends list. With a sigh, Clank closed up his laptop and turned on his music, letting _Quand c'est?_ play on repeat. He lay on his back and stared at the ceiling. He shuttered, and sobbed a little, before long, his cheeks were wet with tears as he fell asleep once more.

He woke to the sound of the doorbell. He sat up in bed and found a note from Gary on his desk. "Went to pick up Terence." The doorbell rang again. Clank pulled his pillow over his head and tried to ignore it. The bell rang a third time, Clank groaned and got out of bed and went down to tell whoever was disturbing him that nobody else was here.

He pulled the front door open, angrily "Gary et Terence ne sont pas ici." He said bitterly. Slender arms threw themselves around his neck. Shocked, Clank caught his hugger.

"You really are back."

Clank stepped back and got a good look at the person in the doorway. "It's you…"


	3. Old Friends

Clank couldn't believe it. After all these years not only had his friend remembered him, but actually came looking for him. He was utterly shocked, he couldn't find his voice to say anything more.

"Aren't you going to invite me in?"

"Oui bien sûr! Entrez!" Clank said, stepping aside.

"Huh?"

"Désolé, I said come in." Clank said, gesturing inside. He watched as his friend entered the room. "Merde, you've grown so much."

"I could say the same about you." They laughed, eyes shining.

Clank felt a smile pull at his lips. "Oui, I may not have gotten much from Gary, but I definitely got his size. Bon dieu, Silvermist. You're beautiful."

Silvermist laughed again. "Thank you. You look pretty good yourself."

Clank shrugged. "Pas vraiment. I look more like an ogre."

"Oh come on, no you don't." Sil said. "You're a handsome young man, ready to take on the world."

"Well, I dunno about that second part," Clank said. "How'd you know I was here?"

"Tink told me." Sil explained.

"Tink?" Clank's brow furrowed. "Oh, Terence's girlfriend."

"Yeah, she said you were gonna come with us to the movies, but weren't feeling well." Sil said. "Are you feeling any better today?"

Clank stared at the floor. "Pas vraiment. Je ne suis pas sûr que je vais jamais me sens mieux." Clank mumbled.

"What?" Sill cocked her head to one side.

Clank looked back up at her. "Nothing, I'm fine."

"Oh, that's good." Sil smiled. "Do you wanna come over for a while? I can give you a ride."

Clank forced a chuckle. "Oh mon Dieu you can drive?"

"Yeah!" Sil said excitedly. "I got my license back in March."

Clank smirked. "Something tells me I should be afraid of you behind the wheel."

"Oh come on, don't be mean." Silvermist shoved him playfully. "Do you wanna come with me or not?"

Clank hesitated. "You know what? Why not? It's not like I'm doing anything here. Lemme just leave a note for Gary." Clank took a notepad off the kitchen counter and scrawled out where he'd be. Sil looked over his shoulder.

"Is he going to be able to read that?" she asked.

"He can type it into google translate if he can't." Clank shrugged, before following Sil to her small blue car. Sil lived about seven miles away, they picked up lunch on the drive back and pulled up in front of Sil's house. "It feels so weird being back here." Clank muttered.

"Weird good? Or weird bad?" Sil asked.

"A little of both." Clank admitted. "But seeing you is weird good."

"Oh good." Sil smiled. "It's good seeing you again too."

Sil led Clank through the house and they sat on the back patio to eat their lunch. Clank had a large sub sandwich stuffed full of meat, and he tore into it like he hadn't seen food in a year.

"Hungry much?" Sil asked, picking up her much smaller tuna sandwich.

Clank nodded. "Haven't had much of an appetite since I've been back. But _God_ am I hungry now."

Silvermist giggled and watched him eat. "So what brings you back here anyway?" Clank nearly choked on his sandwich. He started coughing hard, and hit his chest a couple times. "I'm sorry!" Sil said coming to hit his back. "I'm so sorry, are you okay?"

Clank cleared his throat a few times and took a few sips of his drink. "Oui. I'm fine." He panted. "Désolé pour ça"

Sil rubbed his back while he caught his breath. "Do you need anything?"

"Non, je vais bien." Clank answered. He cleared his throat again. "I'm good now." He downed the rest of his drink. "So what have you been up to?"

"Oh, nothing really. I got a job lifeguarding this summer, and I'm getting ready for junior year." Silvermist said. "Oh and I joined a swim team."

Clank smiled. "I bet you're the fastest one on the team."

"Oh, it's not speed swimming." Sil said. "I do synchronized swimming."

"Like water ballet?" Clank asked.

"Yeah! It's a lot of fun." Sil grinned. "I could show you some if you want."

Clank sat up straighter. "Sure, I guess, if you want to."

"Great! I'll be right back." Silvermist hurried inside. Clank continued eating while he waited for her. He sighed and rubbed his throat which still felt uncomfortable. He thought about Sil's question.

 _Clank stared at the phone, really not wanting to make this call. "Pourquoi ne puis-je rester ici?" he asked._

 _"_ _Tu es un bon garçon, Clément, mais il ne serait pas juste pour moi de prendre soin de vous. Vous devriez être en famille._ _"_ _Jean replied._

 _"_ _Je ne l'ai pas parlé avec lui dans les mois." Clank mumbled._

 _"_ _Eh bien, maintenant serait un bon moment pour commencer." Jean said, resting his hand on Clank's shoulder. He looked sad too. Clank felt like Jean didn't want to send him away. But he was right. They didn't know each other. It wouldn't be right for Clank to stay here._

 _"_ _D'accord…" Clank reached over and picked up the phone. He dialed the number._

 _"_ _Hello?" Gary's voice said on the other end. Clank couldn't bring himself to speak. "Is someone there? Clank? Is that you?" Clank lowered the phone and nearly hung up._

 _Jean held out his hand. "Je cais lui parler."_ _he said. Clank handed the phone over._

"Ta da!" Clank snapped out of his thoughts when Sil returned in a pale blue bathing suit, and her long hair tied up in a bun

"Wow…" Clank breathed. "You look great."

"Thank you," Sil said with a slight curtsey. "C'mon, let me show you what I can do."

Clank followed Sil down to the pool, and watched her dive in. After a moment her toes poked out of the water and suddenly her legs shot up all the way to her hips, she did a split and closed her legs once more before sinking back under water. She turned over and popped her head out of the water.

Clank clapped for her. "That was neat." He said.

"Thanks!" Sil replied. "Now watch this!" She floated on her back and raised one of her legs in the air before arching back in the water. Clank watched, amazed at his friend's talent. She was rather graceful, and got incredible height in the water. Admittedly, Clank didn't know much about synchronized swimming, but he was still impressed none the less. It's not like he could do any of those moves. He kicked off his shoes and sat by the side of the pool, letting his legs hang in the water. After a while, Sil swam over to the side and leaned on the side. "So what did you think?"

"Absolument incroyable." Clank said. "How long have you been doing that?"

"A while now." Sil replied, smiling up at Clank. "Maybe eight years."

Clank whistled. "incroyable." He said again.

"You wanna try?" Sil asked.

"Quelle?! Non! I can't do that." Clank protested.

"C'mon give it a try!" Sil grabbed his wrist and tried to pull him in the pool.

"Non! Silvermist, stop that!" he laughed, pulling his legs out of the pool.

"C'mon Clank, come swim with me!" Sil tugged again.

"I don't have a swim suit!" Clank laughed, trying to get to his feet and pull his hand free. Sil gave one more tug, planting her feet on the wall, making Clank lose his balance and topple into the pool. He surfaced and glared at Silvermist before giving her a playful splash. "You're lucky my pockets were empty."

Sil just laughed and hooked her arms around his shoulders. "You gonna swim with me now?"

Clank sighed and leaned his head back. "I guess so, but I'm not doing any of that synchro stuff."

"That's fair." Sil pushed off his shoulders and ducked under water. Clank peeled his t-shirt off and threw it on the side of the pool. He turned around just in time for Sil to squirt him in the face.

"Oh you asked for it now." Clank smirked and plunged his arm into the water, making a huge splash. Sil quickly took a breath before it hit her. Clank continued to splash until Sil ducked under the water again. She swam up to Clank and popped out of the water, throwing her arms around him again.

"Can't win a splash war if your target is too close." She grinned.

"No, but I could do this." He took a deep breath and sunk under water. Silvermist held on and they sank to the bottom of the pool. Clank pressed against the side of the pool to hold himself down. Silvermist held onto him calmly. Clank could feel his chest start to hurt. He pressed harder on the wall, trying to ignore it, but a moment later, he was forced to push off the bottom of the pool and come up for air.

Silvermist giggled. "Did you really think you could hold your breath longer than me?" she let go of his neck and floated a few inches from him.

Clank heaved a few deep breaths. "Non, I guess it was a dumb idea."

"A little bit." Sil agreed. "But still fun, right?"

"Oui. I'm having fun." Clank confirmed, hoisting himself out of the water. "You know, I don't have any dry clothes here."

"I can throw those in the dryer." Sil shrugged, floating on her back. Clank got up and rung out his shirt and lay it on the deck by his shoes. "Are you coming back in?" Sil called. Clank suddenly turned and ran at the pool and did a cannon ball. Silvermist squealed as the wave pushed her back.

Around three o'clock and after a lot of goofing off, the two of them climbed out of the pool. Clank hid in the bathroom and threw his wet clothes in the hallway for Silvermist to throw in the dryer.

"Are you just going to stay in there?" Silvermist called through the door.

"Sil, I'm naked." Clank said. "Nobody needs to see that."

"Oh right." Sil laughed. "I'll find you something to cover up with." She returned with a green bedsheet. Clank rolled his eyes and wrapped himself up in it, and when he exited the bathroom he found Silvermist was wrapped in a blue sheet. "Nothing like a summer toga party, am I right?"

Clank laughed. "You don't have to do that."

"Hey, it's only fair. You have nothing to wear so I'm gonna suffer with you." Silvermist said, leading Clank to the living room. They sat on the couch together and turned on the television.

"Hey, where are your parents?" Clank asked.

"My mom's at work." Silvermist said as she took her hair down. "She should be home around six. Dad's out of town."

"So it's just us?" Clank started to feel a little awkward.

"Yeah, but I told my mom I was gonna go see you today." Sil explained. "I texted her, she knows you're here."

"Oh, okay. Good." Clank sighed. "I didn't want to get in trouble after my first good day back here."

"That reminds me." Silvermist said, brushing her hair. "You never did tell me why you moved back."

Clank froze.

 _He sat alone in that dark room. Lance and Keith both shouting from outside on the front lawn. He stared down at the object in his hands. "Fais-le. Il sera fini et la douleur cessera." He muttered to himself. There was a knock at the door._

 _"_ _Are you in there?" an unfamiliar voice called._

 _"_ _Allez-vous en!" Clank yelled._

 _"_ _Vos amis sont inquiets." The voice said._

 _"_ _Je ne me soucie pas! Ils ne savent pas ce que ji vis." Clank sobbed._

 _"_ _Ils ont peur que vous allez vous blesser." The man said calmly._

 _"_ _Je vais faire pire que cela." Clank murmured._

 _"_ _Ne pas le faire!" The man shouted. Clank was surprised he'd heard him. "Peu importe combine vous êtes mal, la mort est pas la réponse."_

"Clank?" Silvermist said softly.

"Huh?" Clank jerked his attention to her.

"You're crying." She said, reaching over and wiping a tear from his cheek. "What happened?"

Clank wiped his eyes and shook his head. "I really don't wanna talk about it, Sil."

Silvermist took his hand. "It's okay. You don' have to say anything."

Clank sniffled and rubbed his eyes again. "Merci."

Silvermist reached up and started to untangle his braid. Clank began to relax again as the twists in his hair loosened. She took her brush and began running it through his hair. "You sure have long hair." She commented.

"Look who's talking." Clank shrugged.

"You have a point." Silvermist smiled, brushing the tangles from his wet hair. "Why'd you let it get this long?"

"I was growing it out to donate it." Clank explained.

"Really? That's so sweet of you. Usually girls do that." Silvermist said.

"Well, I saw no reason why I couldn't." Clank replied. "I've always had nice hair."

"Nice and thick." Sil said, tugging his hair a little. "Whoever ends up wearing this wig is gonna look great."

Clank sighed. "Yeah, well. I hope so."

"Are you okay?" Silvermist asked.

"I'm fine." Clank replied. The dryer buzzed.

"Oh, there's your clothes. I'll be right back!" Silvermist hopped off the couch and went to collect Clank's clothes. He ran his fingers through his hair a couple times, and stared at the television, not really seeing the images being displayed. Silvermist dropped his clothes on his head.

"Hey!" he shouted, grabbing them as they fell.

"You're really spaced out." Sil commented.

"Sorry." He sighed as he got up. "I was just… thinking…"

"What about?"

"Nothing important. I'm gonna go get dressed." He said, heading back to the bathroom. Silvermist had gotten dressed too by the time he had returned. She handed him his cell phone.

"Your dad called." She said. "You should probably call him back."

"I'll text him." Clank said, quickly typing a message out to Gary. "I should probably head back to his house."

"Oh. Alright." Silvermist said, sounding a little disappointed. "But… I wanna show you something first." She took his hand and led him back outside past the pool and across her back yard. Clank's chest felt tight as he heard running water.

"Where are you taking me?" he asked, already knowing the answer.

"The river," Silvermist said. "Come on." She led him over to the dock they used to sit on. Clank walked to the end of the dock and put his hand on one of the posts. "It's still there by the way."

"Really?" Clank looked at the post. Carved into the side were four letters. "SK… CB… I would've thought they'd be gone after all this time."

"I come down here and dig the letters out sometimes." Silvermist said. "I didn't want to forget about you."

Clank ran his hand over the letters. "Thank you Silvermist." He whispered. He pulled out his house keys and flipped open a tiny knife on his key chain and began digging into the post.

"What are you doing?" she asked. Clank didn't answer and brushed the post off before walking away. Silvermist went and looked to see the letters freshly dug out, clear of mud and algae. Something was different though. There was now a small 2 carved next to CB.


	4. Sixteen

It was nearing the end of August. Clank had been living with Gary for almost a month. He still refused to speak English when Gary was around, but would every now and then say something to Terence. It wasn't ever very much, just things like "Have fun with Tink." Or "can I borrow your charger" but mostly he would say "Please don't tell Gary I've talked to you."

He had two more sessions with Dr. Bell. He hadn't opened up much since the first session, but did talk about reuniting with his old friend. Dr. Bell was proud of him and said he was taking steps in the right direction. Clank never once told him what was upsetting him so much, but he had a feeling Dr. Bell already knew, and he was grateful that he wasn't pressing the issue. Clank still wasn't ready to talk about it.

Silvermist came over a few more times when she wasn't working. Usually they would go somewhere else when she showed up. But the few times she did stay over, Clank wouldn't speak if Gary was in the room, opting to text Silvermist instead. Gary was getting rather frustrated with Clank's behavior. He never said anything about it though, because he did notice that Clank was getting more active and eating more. Gary figured that was more important than being able to talk to his son.

There was something he needed to ask Clank though, and he hoped he would answer plainly. He went to his room where he found him sitting at his desk with a model kit open. "Clank? Can I come in?" Gary asked

"Pourquoi demandes-tu? Nous savons tous les deux que vous allez venir de toute façon." Clank said. Gary sighed and went to sit on the edge of Clank's bed. "Je le savais."

"Where did you get the model?" Gary asked.

"Pidge." Clank replied.

"I don't know what that means." Gary said.

"C'est mon ami." Clank said.

Gary watched as Clank glued some of the pieces together. "Clank, I need to ask you about something, so could you please answer me in English?" Clank glanced at him but gave no answer. "Your birthday is in a couple days. I was wondering if you'd like to go out for dinner. You could invite Silvermist."

Clank shrugged and gave a thumbs up. Well, that was better than nothing, Gary thought. "Is there anything you want for your birthday?" Gary asked.

Clank felt a tug in his chest. He knew how he wanted to answer, but also knew there was no way Gary could get this for him. Instead he shook his head.

"Alright… well, let me know if you think of anything." Gary said, standing up. He set a couple envelopes on his desk. "Those came for you in the mail. Cards I assume."

Clank looked at the mail and glanced back at his model. Gary sighed and headed for the door. "Gary?" Clank spoke up.

"Yes?" Gary turned back to his son.

Clank was silent for a moment. "Je… I want to take my driver's test." He said finally. Gary's eyes widened. "That's… what I want for my birthday. So Sil doesn't have to come pick me up all the time."

Gary nodded. "Alright. I'll see if I can set that up."

Once he was alone again, Clank picked up the envelopes. They were, just as Gary said, birthday cards. One was from his friends, seven signatures scrawled over it. He put it on a high shelf and opened the other one. Much to his surprise, it was from Jean. He shoved the card into his desk drawer without reading it and resumed working on his model.

 _Clank woke up in a large bed, hearing voices outside his room. Voices talking about him. He quickly got dressed and stepped out of the room just as one of the voices said "You know he can't stay here Jean."_

 _"_ _But I can help him! I can take care of him!" Jean protested, they both turned as Clank's door opened. An older man was there talking to Jean. Clank swallowed as his eyes landed on him._

 _"_ _Good morning. You must be Clement. My name is Joseph." The old man held his hand out to Clank._

 _He just stared at it and shrunk back, looking up at Jean. "I never told you my real name." he mumbled._

 _"_ _I know." Jean said, holding out two cards. "I took these last night while you were asleep." Clank took the cards, one of them was his student ID._

 _Clank felt cold. "_ _Vous êtes allé dans mon portefeuille ...? Pourquoi?! Qu'est-ce que vous donne le droit d'aller dans mes affaires! Je ne vous connais même pas!_ _"_

 _"_ _Calmez Clank." Jean said. "_ _Je devais regarder quelques choses afin de vous aider. Je suis désolé d'avoir pris votre ID sans demander._ _"_

 _Clank shoved the cards in his pocket. "Qui est-il?" he demanded._

 _Jean glanced at Joseph. "On pourrait dire qu'il est mon employeur." Jean said._

 _"_ _Clement, Jean's told me about your situation. I'll help you out financially, but only if you agree to contact your family." Joseph said._

 _"_ _Why do either of you care?" Clank asked._

 _"_ _Because you've already got enough to worry about. Money shouldn't be one of them." Joseph explained. "Now you need to come with me, we have a lot to discuss."_

 _"_ _I'm not going anywhere with you!" Clank snapped._

 _"_ _It's alright, Clank." Jean said. "I'll go with you."_

 _"_ _No! I don't want to go with either of you! Éloignez-vous de moi!"_

"Hey Clank!" Terence stepped into his room. Clank shot a glare at him. "Woah, are you okay?"

"No." Clank sighed.

"What's wrong?" Terence asked.

"Don't worry about it." Clank waved him off. "You need something?"

"I was about to go over to Tink's house and was wondering if you wanted to come with me." Terence said.

"Why would I want to do that?" Clank asked. "I don't imagine watching you make kissy faces at your girlfriend would be a good time for me."

Terence laughed. "Well, I was more thinking you might like to meet her family. Her brother and sister are pretty cool, I think you'd like them."

Clank rolled his eyes. "I'll pass, thanks."

"You sure?" Terence asked.

"I'm sure." Clank replied before Terence could argue his point further.

"Alright." Terence said. "I'll see you later then."

"Bye." Clank said.

The morning of Clank's birthday, Gary got him up early. He'd made pancakes for breakfast, which Clank actually ate without complaint. "Merci, Gary." He said through a mouthful of food.

"You're welcome, birthday boy." Gary said, ignoring the look Clank gave him at the nickname. "Are you ready for your test?"

Clank swallowed. "Oui." He replied.

"Good, we'll head over to the DMV as soon as you're ready." Gary said. Terence hurried into the kitchen then.

"Hey dad," Terence said, Clank could already hear a question on his lips.

"I already told you no." Gary shot him down before he could even ask.

"I didn't even say anything yet." Terence sulked.

"I know what you're going to ask, and the answer is still no." Gary said firmly.

Clank excused himself to avoid hearing the argument again. The other day when Terence had invited him to go visit Tink, he'd come home talking about a party they were all going to. He asked Gary if he could go, but Gary told him no. All day yesterday, that's all Clank heard about was the party. According to Terence it was going to be more like a small group of friends getting together for one last night of fun before the school year started. Gary still said no, and said he was working late that night and couldn't drive him. Terence asked if he could go if he got a ride. Gary said only if there was room in the car for Clank, who immediately stated he had no interest in going to this get together, and avoided the conversation from then on.

He went to his room, got dressed, and pulled his hair back. He went over the steps of driving in his head a few times while he stuffed his pockets with his wallet, phone and iPod. He was feeling pretty confident that he could pass this test no problem. He'd been practicing a lot over the summer before he moved. He hadn't touched a steering wheel since he got to Gary's house, but still felt like he remembered what to do. He headed downstairs, catching the tail end of the argument.

"If you can convince your brother to go with you, then fine. You can go. But if Clank doesn't want to go, then neither of you are going." Gary said firmly.

"But dad!"

"That's my final decision on it, Terence." Gary cut him off.

"Ugh!" Terence threw his hands up. "Fine! Whatever!" he was about to storm out of the kitchen when he saw Clank.

"Terence, wish your brother a happy birthday." Gary said.

Terence rolled his eyes. "Yeah, happy birthday." He grumbled before pushing past Clank.

"Terence!" Gary yelled after him.

"C'est bien." Clank said. "Il n'a pas à me dire joyeux anniversaire s'il ne veut pas."

Gary sighed. "Clank, don't feel like you have to go to that party just to make Terence happy."

Clank shrugged. "Je ne veux pas. Je ne veux vraiment pas aller."

Gary half smiled. "You ready to go?"

"Oui." Clank nodded. They headed out to the driveway and got into Gary's car and headed to the DMV. Clank tapped his foot nervously while he waited for his turn.

"Mr. Boutin?" Clank jumped up, and Gary caught his wrist, grabbing his attention.

"Good luck, Clank." He said with a smile.

"Merci." Clank nodded and hurried off with the woman who called him. The written test took forever, but Clank was pretty sure he nailed it. When he was brought to the car, he could feel his nerves going haywire and kept repeating everything in his head on how to drive.

 _Vous avez rien à craindre, Clankie obtenu. Tu peux le faire._ Clank held his breath. "Je peux le faire." He muttered. "I can do this!"

"Are you ready, Mr. Boutin?" The driving instructor asked.

Clank grinned. "Oui. I'm ready." He got behind the wheel and the driving test began.

An hour later, Clank returned to Gary, who was pacing nervously, biting his knuckle. "How did it go?" Gary asked when he spotted his son. Clank looked up at him with sad eyes. "Oh no…"

Clank suddenly grinned. "I passed." He said.

"You passed?" Gary smiled wide.

"Oui!" Clank grinned.

"Oh, son I'm so proud of you!" Gary moved in for a hug, but Clank took a step back, his smile fading. "Oh… right, I'm sorry." Gary stepped back and cleared his throat. "Let's head home." Clank nodded. On the drive back to Gary's, Clank kept looking at his temp license, excited to be able to leave when he wanted and not have to wait for a ride.

When they got back to the house, there was a note on the fridge from Terence saying he'd gone to Tink's house. Gary grimaced. "He should've stayed home to celebrate with you. I'm sorry, Clank."

"C'est bien." Clank said.

"I'd imagine you want to go tell Silvermist?" Gary asked. Clank glanced at him and nodded. "Well, then I hope you have a good time." He opened a drawer and pulled out a set of keys and tossed them to Clank. "It's all yours, Clank."

Clank stared at the keys, then back to Gary. "Really?"

"Of course, really. It was always your car." Gary grinned.

Clank felt his throat tighten. "Thank you, Gary." He said, trying to keep his eyes from watering. "We'll be back for dinner!"

Gary grinned. "Clank…"

"Yeah?" Clank turned back to Gary.

"You spoke English." Gary pointed out.

Clank smiled softly. "Yeah, I do that sometimes…"

"Alright, go have fun." Gary waved him off.

Clank smiled and headed out the door and ran his hand over the hood of the gray car in the driveway. He climbed in and started her up, breathing in his new found sense of freedom as she roared to life. He drove to the public pool where Silvermist worked and stuck his head in the guard office when he got there. "Hello, old friend." He greeted.

"Clank!" Silvermist hugged him. "Happy birthday!"

"Merci mademoiselle."

"How did you get here?" she asked. "I thought you didn't like asking your dad for rides."

Clank pulled out his temp license and handed it to her. "I just got this today."

"No way!" Silvermist exclaimed. "Something tells me I should be afraid now that you're driving."

"Very funny." He said as he took the paper back. "Are you still coming to dinner tonight?"

"Yeah! Wouldn't miss it." She replied. "Are you gonna swim while I'm working?"

Clank shook his head. "I didn't bring my trunks."

"You never bring your trunks." Silvermist scolded. "Don't you know the point of going to a pool is to swim?"

"I'd say the point of going to the pool is to come see you." Clank shrugged. "Besides, nobody here wants to see me in a swimsuit."

Silvermist rolled her eyes and shoved him. "Now you're just making excuses." She headed out of the office. "I gotta go on stand, so… I dunno what you wanna do until I get off work."

"I'll find some way to entertain myself." Clank smiled. "I'll be back later." He left Silvermist and decided to go shopping for a while. He went to a craft store that was a few blocks away from the pool. He'd finished the model plane Pidge had given him and thought he'd find another to build.

He was browsing through one aisle when a stout woman walked through, talking on her cell phone. "I'm sorry that she's upset, dear. I can't do anything until I get home." Clank glanced at the woman and stepped out of her way as she came closer. She stopped behind him looking at the opposite shelf. "I'll be on my way as soon as I'm done shopping. Now, remind me which ones he's missing?"

Clank looked at the shelf the woman was facing. There were a bunch of laser cut metal models hanging from it. Clank was instantly intrigued, and started looking them over to find one or two to buy.

"Does he have the carousel? Yes? What about the wright brother's airplane?" The woman asked. Clank reached up and pulled down the last model of a fighter ship from a game he liked. "What about the M4 Sherman tank? Alright I'll get that one." Clank eyed that one as well.

"Excuse me." He said and took one of the tank models.

The woman moved out of Clank's way and kept talking. "No, I'm not seeing the Black Pearl." She said. "Do you think he'd like the Eiffel Tower?" Clank moved down the aisle to keep from hovering around the woman. He spotted a ship model and glanced back at the woman. He pulled it from the shelf and returned to her.

"Excuse me, ma'am?" he said.

"Yes?" she looked up at Clank and he held out the model.

"You were looking for the Black Pearl, right?" Clank asked.

"Oh! Yes, thank you." She took the model and turned her attention back to her phone. "No, they only had one of those and someone else got it first."

Clank looked down at the fighter ship in his hand. "This one?" he held it out too.

"Yes, dear. Don't worry about it. You had it first." The woman said. "No, not you, I'm talking to someone at the store."

"You can have it." Clank said.

"It's alright." She replied.

"I insist." Clank said handing it over. "I'll find something else."

"Are you sure?" The woman asked, taking the model.

"Absolutely." Clank replied.

"Well, thank you, young man." She smiled.

"You're welcome." He said before moving back down the aisle.

"Do you think three are enough?" The woman said to the phone. Clank grabbed two more models, one of a space shuttle and one of an old fashioned car. The woman came up to him, no longer on her phone. "Excuse me, dear."

"Yes?" Clank turned to her.

"Could I pay for one of those for you?" she asked.

"Why?" Clank asked, tilting his head to one side.

"It's the least I could do for letting me have this one." She said flashing the fighter ship. "Apparently it's my son's favorite."

"It's one of mine too." Clank said, then immediately wished he hadn't.

"Oh, well then you should keep it." The woman said, trying to give it back to him.

"No, no! It's fine!" Clank assured her. "I found some other ones to make. I can wait 'til they restock."

"Are you sure?" The woman asked.

"Yes, definitely." Clank said.

"Well, thank you very much. But even so, do you mind if I buy one of those for you?" she asked again.

Clank hesitated. "That's okay. You don't have to do that."

The woman sighed, smiling softly. "Well, either way, thank you."

"No problem." Clank grinned. "You have a nice day, ma'am." He gave her a slight wave before moving to another aisle. She seemed very sweet, and Clank was happy he could help her, but slowly his chest started to feel hollow as he made his way to the front of the store. He bought his models and headed out the door, spotting the stout woman once more heading to her car. He swallowed hard and headed for his own car.

When supper time rolled around, Clank returned to Gary's house with Silvermist. Gary seemed rather eager to shove everyone in his car and head off to the restaurant. Clank sat in the back with Silvermist, while Terence sat in front, looking a little miffed like he had that morning.

"What's wrong with Terence?" Sil whispered.

"He's mad at Gary for not letting him go to some party." Clank mumbled back.

"Well, he's being a little rude, don't you think?"

"Maybe a little." Clank agreed. "I don't really care."

When they got to the restaurant, Gary spoke to the hostess quietly and she gestured for their group to follow. It seemed like a nice enough restaurant, soft lighting, good smells, clean. Clank figured the night wouldn't be too bad. Clank and Sil followed behind everyone as the Hostess took them to a back room. Clank stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the table.

"Surprise!" a familiar voice rang out. Clank's breath caught in his chest as he started to smile from ear to ear. He could feel a slight prickling in his eyes as he moved forward toward the table.

Clank scooped up his friend in a bear hug. "Lance! What are you doing here?"

"You didn't think I was gonna miss your birthday, did you big guy?" Lance replied, hugging Clank back. Clank nearly squeezed him until his bones cracked. "Clank! Clank! Air!" Lance gasped. Clank let go, laughing out an apology.

"How'd you know I'd be here?" Clank asked.

"He showed up at the house twenty minutes before you got home." Gary said. "I invited him to dinner, he decided to go on ahead and save us a table."

"Oh my God, this is awesome!" Clank exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah." Lance smirked. "You know the drill, Clank. C'mere."

Clank took a step back. "Oh no, not this time!" he said. "You're not getting me this year!"

"Everybody says that every year, buddy. No one's ever stopped me." Lance said. He made a small lunge at Clank, who instinctively caught him. Lance curled one arm around Clank's neck and pressed his mouth to Clank's. After a brief moment Clank pushed Lance off, both laughing when he did.

"Really, Lance? You had to do that in front of everybody?" Clank rolled his eyes. He looked over at everyone else. Silvermist was giggling. Terence looked shocked, yet mildly amused. Gary looked pale and maybe even a little angry.

"Well of course." Lance said. "It's not a true McLain Birthday Kiss unless you're totally embarrassed."

Clank laughed and took his seat at the table, everyone else followed suit. "I guess so. But nobody else here knows that tradition, Lance."

"Well, now they do. And you can spread the tradition here." Lance shrugged.

"Yeah, it looks fun!" Silvermist chimed in.

"It is, especially if you use tongue." Lance smirked. Clank doubled over laughing, his face turning beet red.

"Oh geez, did he do that?" Terence asked. "Did he seriously stick his tongue in your mouth?" Clank nodded, unable to speak through the laughter. "Gross!" Terence yelled.

"Yes, I believe I've heard enough of this discussion." Gary said sternly.

"Sorry, Mr. Boutin." Lance laughed.

"McGregor." Gary said. "Boutin is Clank's last name."

Lance chuckled. "Right. Sorry."

Silvermist held her hand across the table to Lance. "I'm Silvermist," she said.

"Well hello," Lance said smoothly, taking Sil's hand and kissing it. "How's Clank find such a pretty lady like yourself?"

Clank rolled his eyes. "We're friends from way back." Sil explained. "We used to play together a lot."

"Clank, you've been holding out on me. You never said you had a hot girlfriend here." Lance said in a mock-offended tone.

"First of all, when I left, we were five and I didn't know she'd grow up to be this pretty. Second, we're just friends. She's not my girlfriend." Clank explained.

"Really now?" Lance grinned at Sil making her giggle. "So, Silvermist, are you interested in my boy, Clank?"

Silvermist smirked. "I don't think that's any of your business."

"Ah, so you are!" Lance said.

"Stoooooooop!" Clank groaned, unable to keep the grin off his face.

"Better hurry up and take him off the market, Sil. I might just steal him from you." Lance continued.

"We'll just see about that." Silvermist countered.

"Guys, stop it." Clank said, wiping his eyes.

"Seriously, I'm about to lose my appetite." Terence said, grinning. Silvermist grabbed a sugar packet and threw it at Terence. Gary opened his menu, looking a little cross about the conversation

Clank turned back to Lance, ignoring Gary. "So how are things back home?" he asked.

Lance leaned back in his chair. "Decent I guess. I've mostly just been getting my chill on."

Clank grinned. "No surprise there."

"Oh, here's something you'll find interesting. Guess who finally hooked up." Lance grinned.

"You and keith." Clank said.

Lance blushed. "N-no! I wouldn't wanna be with that aloof mullet headed-"

"You and Hunk." Clank interrupted.

"Closer, but no." Lance said, still red in the face and flustered.

"You and…Pidge?" Clank asked, not thinking for a minute that would be right.

"Okay, now you're not even trying." Lance rolled his eyes. "No, Pidge and Hunk!"

"Wow! Really? Hunk finally asked them out?" Clank exclaimed, leaning on the table.

"Nah, Pidge asked Hunk." Lance waved.

"Oh, that makes more sense." Clank nodded.

"Old friends of yours I assume?" Silvermist asked.

"Yeah!" Clank grinned. "We're all pretty close."

"So where's everybody else?" Terence asked.

Clank fell quiet. That was a good point. "Yeah, why didn't anyone else come?" Clank asked.

Lance stared at Clank for a second. "That… would've been a good idea huh."

"You forgot to tell them you were coming here, didn't you?" Clank smirked.

"Yep." Lance admitted. "I'll have to drag them down here some time."

"Or," Clank said, reaching for his wallet. "I could come to you. I got my license today."

"Woah! Really? Lemme see!" Lance said as Clank took the paper from his wallet.

"Yeah, now I can come visit you whenever!" Clank grinned.

Gary set down his menu. "Clank, you just started driving today. I don't want you driving that far yet."

"But Gary!" Clank was about to argue.

"Don't 'but Gary' me. It's too dangerous. Your friends can come here… occasionally. As long as I know about it first." Gary turned to Lance. "I'll make an exception this time since it's his birthday."

Lance sat back in his chair, subdued. "Sorry, Mr. Bou… McGregor." Clank's shoulders slumped. Silvermist looked from Clank and Lance over to Gary, who had taken to looking at the menu again. She looked across at Terence and shrugged at him.

"So…" Terence started. "Lets order!"

The meal was a lot quieter then. Eventually Lance perked up a little more and asked Clank how things had been since moving away. Clank said he didn't have much to say on the matter and that Silvermist was the only good thing that he'd gotten out of the move. Gary had given a displeased look about that. Lance noticed, but Clank didn't.

From there Lance asked Silvermist about herself. She told him about how she was a swimmer and a lifeguard and how she was looking forward to school starting. Lance seemed rather interested in her, and Clank knew in a matter of minutes that Lance would start making moves on her. He always found Lance's flirting entertaining, so he didn't bother to stop it.

"Maybe I should come swim with you sometime." Lance smiled slyly. "I could always help you practice mouth to mouth."

Silvermist laughed. "That would be fun, but I'll have you know rescue breathing is nothing like a kiss. I'd literally be forcing air into your lungs."

Clank laughed at Lance's expression. "Yeah? Well I might need that." Lance said, trying to recover. "Because you definitely take my breath away."

Clank glanced at Sil. "Oh, well maybe I'm too dangerous to be around." She said. "I definitely don't want you to stop breathing because of me."

Lance's face fell again. Both Terence and Clank were trying not to laugh out loud. Lance tried again. "I wouldn't worry about that. You've already stopped my heart. Maybe you should try to get it going again." He smirked. Terence and Clank were both eager for Sil's response.

"I'd better start CPR then." She said, Lance started to grin. "It might crack your sternum and a few ribs so, you're going to be in pain for a few days, assuming I can get your heart back going." Lance slumped in his chair, making both Terence and Clank howl with laughter.

"Yeah, well…" Lance started.

"Leave the girl alone." Gary said sternly. Lance shut his mouth.

"Oh come on, Dad." Terence said. "He was just playing around."

"Well, not everyone thinks that kind of behavior is funny." Gary said.

Lance shrunk back in his chair again. Sil looked from him to Gary. "It didn't bother me. I knew he was just joking." Lance gave her a small smile.

"It's not proper behavior." Gary said flatly. Lance's smile fell again.

Clank glared at Gary. "Would you stop making my friend feel bad? He came all this way to see me for my birthday and you're just being rude."

"I invited him to dinner didn't I?" Gary pointed out.

"It's okay, Clank." Lance said, standing up. "I can tell when I'm not wanted." He pulled out his wallet and laid down thirty dollars. "That should cover my meal. It's been great seeing you again Clank." He said as he walked away from the table.

"Lance, wait!" Clank got up to follow him.

"Sit down, Clank." Gary said.

"Non!" Clank snapped. "Il est mon ami, et je vais avec lui." Clank hurried away from the table to catch up with Lance. He caught him just as he was heading out the door. "Lance, wait."

"Your dad's a real piece of work." Lance said.

"I know, I'm sorry." Clank said. "I honestly didn't expect him to act like that. I dunno what his problem was."

"It's fine. You don't have to apologize for him." Lance waved it off. "He should apologize to you."

"Or to you." Clank said.

"Or to both of you." Terence said coming up behind them with Silvermist. "That's the first time I've seen you laugh, Clank. He should've just been happy that you were finally having a good time here."

"Do you know what his problem is?" Clank asked.

Terence shook his head. "Honestly, no. Maybe he was uncomfortable with Lance kissing you, but really that shouldn't matter."

"You're right. It shouldn't." Clank said crossly.

Lance looked past Terence. "I'd better get out of here. Old grumpy is heading this way." Clank looked too and saw Gary heading their way from the back of the restaurant.

"Can I ride with you?" Clank asked. "I don't really wanna be around him right now."

Lance grinned. "Sure. Anyone else want to come with us?"

"I'd better stay with my dad." Terence said, glancing back at Gary.

"I'll go with you guys." Sil said. She turned and gave Terence a hug. "Good night, It's been fun."

"I'll see you next week." Terence said, then headed back in to meet Gary.

Lance hurried Clank and Silvermist to his car and drove off. "So where are we headed? Back to your house?"

"I don't really want to go there." Clank said sourly.

"We could go to the park." Sil suggested.

"That works." Lance agreed. "Just tell me how to get there."

Once they were at the park, the three of them sat around a picnic table. Lance got a cooler from his trunk and held it in his lap.

"Alright, what's in there?" Clank asked.

"Well, we took care of my tradition. I figured you'd like to do yours too." Lance said, grinning.

Clank fell silent. "What tradition?" Silvermist asked. Lance handed the cooler over to Clank. He slid the lid off and looked inside.

"You didn't…" he breathed.

"I did." Lance grinned.

Clank pulled out a white frosted cake and set it on the picnic table. "What flavor is it?"

"Coconut." Lance answered. "I hope that's alright."

"That's great." Clank said. His chest and throat were getting tight and his eyes started watering.

"Clank, are you okay?" Silvermist asked.

"She used to get me one every year." Clank whispered. "Ever since we found that bakery."

"Huh?" Silvermist didn't understand.

"Happy birthday, Clement." Lance said softly. Clank threw his arms around Lance and hugged him tight. The three of them cut into the cake. It was absolutely delicious, just how Clank remembered. He couldn't keep from crying as he ate it. Lance didn't question it. But Silvermist was concerned.

"I dunno what I'd do if that place ever went out of business." Clank wiped his eyes. "Tell Hunk he has to get a job there so he can learn how to make those cakes."

Lance chuckled. "Sure thing."

Silvermist was about to ask why Clank was acting so emotional, when her phone rang. "Oh, that's my mom." She said and stepped away to answer her.

Once she was out of earshot Lance asked "Do you like living here?"

"Of course not." Clank replied. "I hate it here. I really don't enjoy living with Gary. Terence is fine and Silvermist is great, but other than that I just really hate it here."

Lance glanced over to where Silvermist was talking. "Do you wanna come home?"

Clank swallowed another bite of cake. "Yeah, but I can't."

"Why can't you?" lance asked.

"I'd probably get the cops called on me for running away." Clank shrugged. "I wouldn't put that past Gary."

"Can he even do that?" Lance asked. "Legally I mean."

"What are you talking about?"

"I mean, is he really your legal guardian? Does he have any rights to you at all? That old guy told you that you had to call him, but does Gary actually have the right to stop you if you left?" Lance said.

Clank thought a moment. "You know, I don't actually know. I always had a way to contact him, and he could contact me and never did. I don't know if he does have any rights to me."

"Exactly." Lance said. "So how 'bout it? You wanna come home?"

"Where will I stay?" Clank asked.

"You can stay with me." He said.

"You serious?"

"Absolutely." Lance nodded.

A smile crept onto Clank's face. "I'll do it. I'll come back with you."


	5. Escape

When Silvermist returned, she said her mom wanted her home. Lance drove her back to her house and told her it was nice to meet her. Clank walked her to her door while Lance stayed with the car.

"Thanks for coming tonight." Clank said.

"No problem." Sil replied. "I'm just sorry that things got a little awkward at dinner."

"Did Lance's flirting bother you?" Clank asked.

"Not at all." Silvermist said. "I thought it was funny actually. I would've told him to stop if he went too far."

Clank nodded. "That's good." He stared at the ground, rocking back on his heels a little bit. This was the only hard part about leaving. He'd just gotten Silvermist back. He wasn't sure how he was going to be able to let her go again. "Sil…" he started.

"Oh! Hang on. I have a present for you. I left it inside." Sil went into her house, leaving Clank on the doorstep. He looked over at Lance who gave him a _What's going on_ gesture. Clank shrugged in response.

A moment later, Sil returned with a box wrapped in purple paper. "Happy birthday." She said.

Clank took the box and peeled the paper back. Inside was a pair of headphones. "Thanks, Sil." Clank said looking at the headphones.

"They're Bluetooth." Silvermist said. "You kept getting the cable of your other ones tangled up, so I thought you might like this. It's volume controlled too, so you don't blow your ears out."

Clank curled his arms around her. "Thank you Silvermist." He hugged her tight. He ignored the tightness in his chest, trying to make himself say goodbye.

"I'm really glad you're back, Clank." Silvermist whispered. She stepped back, and everything shattered beneath Clank. He felt like he was hanging in a void as Sil wished him goodnight and went inside. Feeling completely hollow he returned to Lance's car and told him to head back to Gary's.

"I need to get some stuff." Clank said as Lance drove.

"How'd things go with Sil?" Lance asked.

"I didn't tell her." Clank sighed. "It'll be easier if I just go."

"If you say so, man." Lance shrugged. "So what all do you need to get?"

"My computer, some clothes, and my car." Clank said simply.

"Do you need my help with that?" Lance asked.

"You should probably wait for me at a gas station." Clank said. "I don't think Gary would like you coming in the house."

"Good plan." Lance nodded. He pulled up in front of Clank's house. He clasped Clank on the shoulder as he was getting out of the car. "Call me when you're heading out."

"I will." Clank nodded.

"See you soon." Lance grinned. "Good luck."

Clank headed inside. Lance drove off before he got to the door. Gary was in the living room when Clank entered the house. Clank could already feel the tension in the room the moment he laid eyes on Gary.

"Clement." Gary started lowly. Clank didn't answer. "I don't want that boy coming here anymore."

"Vous ne devez pas vous inquiéter à ce sujet." Clank muttered.

"Speak English, Clement." Gary growled.

"Non." Clank replied.

"Yes." Gary snapped. "As long as you're living in my house you will speak in a language I can understand. I've had enough of this, boy."

"Heureusement pour vous, je ne reste pas ici une autre nuit. Je pars." Clank replied.

"English, Clement!" Gary yelled. Clank glared at him and tried to walk away. "I'm not finished talking to you."

"Eh bien, je suis fait de vous parler." Clank spat.

"Sit down." Gary ordered. Clank tried to get away again, Gary blocked his exit. "Sit. Down." He repeated.

Clank sat on the couch, glaring up at Gary. He wondered briefly what happened to Terence, but didn't dwell on it as Gary continued yelling. "That friend of yours was nothing but a rude delinquent, and the way he was treating Silvermist. You should be ashamed of yourself for befriending a boy who treats women so poorly."

"Vous avez pas de place de dire ça!" Clank yelled.

"Shush!" Gary hissed. "If you're not going to speak English don't say anything at all!" Clank just glared. "I've been gracious enough to invite you into my home, and I've done what I can to help you and you've done nothing but sulk and fight me every step of the way. And then tonight, you just left the restaurant without telling me where you were going or when you would be back."

"Si vous ne l'aviez pas été grossier à mon ami alors je ne serais pas parti!" Clank yelled.

"If you say another word in that language I swear I will ground you for a month!" Gary yelled.

Clank's jaw clenched. "Je vais parler la langue que je veux."

Gary let out a frustrated growl. "Go to your room, Clement. You're grounded." Clank stood up and pushed past Gary silently. He went to his room and slammed the door. He didn't care at all that he was 'grounded.' It's not like you can ground someone who doesn't live with you. He pulled his backpack from his closet and started stowing his things inside. He got his laptop, his photos and the broken sculpture. He took the books his friends had given him and the Lion from Keith and put them all in his backpack. He filled what little room was left in the bag with whatever clothes he could fit.

He sat on his bed and pulled out his phone to text Lance. **Gary grounded me. I'll head out after he goes to sleep.**

A moment later his phone buzzed. **How long do you think that'll take?**

 **A couple hours maybe. Go ahead and head back.**

 **Are you going to be okay heading back on your own?**

 **Yes. I have your address saved on my phone. Won't be a problem with GPS.**

 **Okay. Let me know when you're heading out. I'll get the guest room set up for you.**

Clank put his phone in his pocket and went to sit by his bedroom door, listening for signs of Gary going to bed. After a moment his phone buzzed again. He pulled it out of his pocked and saw he had a message from Terence. **Are you okay?**

 **Fine.** Clank texted back.

 **What happened?**

 **I'm grounded.**

 **That stinks. You sure you're okay?**

 **I'm fine.**

Clank sighed and pressed his ear to the door, he heard heavy footsteps walk by his room and a door close. Gary must have gone to bed.

Terence texted again. **I don't know why Dad was acting that way. He's normally a really nice guy.**

 **I don't care, Terence.** Clank typed back.

 **Really though, he's a great dad. I'm sorry he was in a bad mood tonight, but I really think you'd like him if you got to know him better.**

 **Ten years too late.** Clank said, shoving his phone into his pocket. The phone continued to buzz but he ignored his brother's messages.

He waited for about twenty minutes to make sure Gary was asleep before slowly opening his door. He peered down the hall way and saw nothing but darkness. Clank grabbed his bag and slipped, soundlessly from his room. He snuck into the kitchen and grabbed a couple apples from the counter, then went to the key rack where he'd hung up his keys before they'd left for dinner.

Only Gary's keys hung there.

Everything dropped out from under Clank in an instant. His breath quickened. He hung his keys there, he was sure of it. Where were they? His throat tightened, he ran his fingers through his hair, thinking hard on what could have possibly happened to his keys. He pat his hips and down his thighs, wondering if maybe he put them in his pockets and forgotten about it.

He set his backpack down on the counter and quickly pulled it open. He started pulling things out of the bag, begging his keys to appear. They weren't in any pocket. He went to the couch, wondering if maybe they'd fallen into the couch while Gary was yelling at him. He pulled back the cushions, dug his fingers into the side and back of the couch, muttering desperate pleas as he went, and came up empty yet again.

Maybe in his room? He hurried back upstairs, forgetting to be quiet as he trudged up the stair case. He dug through his sheets. Nothing. He dug through his drawers. Not there either. He looked on, under, and inside everything he could think of and the keys still refused to make an appearance. He stood in the middle of his room, hands pressed to the sides of his head, breathing heavily as the panic ate at him. His phone was buzzing like crazy in his pocket, which he ignored.

"Clank?" he spun around to see Terence standing in the doorway. He looked concerned as he hesitantly stepped into the room. Clank said nothing as he stood there trembling. "Hey, calm down… It's okay." Terence said softly.

"Ça va pas!" Clank shouted, his voice cracking. "Rien ne va bien et il ne le sera jamais!"

"Shh…" Terence tugged on his arm, leading Clank to his bed and coaxed him to sit down. "What's wrong, Clank?" Terence asked calmly. Clank didn't answer, staring at the ground, breathing hard, tears staining his cheeks. He had no idea when he'd started crying, but wasn't surprised that he had. Terence gently rubbed circles on Clank's shoulder. "shh, it's okay. You're okay."

"Stop saying that!" Clank croaked. "Do you really think anything I've been through is okay?" Terence froze. Clank wiped his eyes, and let out more shaking breaths. "I want to go _home!_ "

"But… you are…"

"Don't." Clank cut him off. "Just don't. This isn't home. He's not my family." Clank sobbed, tears flowing once again. "I want her back so bad."

Terence hesitated before continuing to rub Clank's back. "I know." He sighed.

Clank's phone gave out a long buzz. He pulled it from his pocket and saw that Lance was calling. He tapped the screen and put the phone up to his ear. "Hello?"

"You on your way yet, buddy?" Lance asked.

Clank sniffled. "I can't find my keys, Lance." Terence withdrew his hand.

"Where did you last see them?" Lance asked.

"I thought I left them by the door, hanging with Gary's set. But they aren't there. I've torn through this whole house and can't find them." Clank said, his voice beginning to shake again.

"Dad took them." Terence said quietly.

Clank shot a glance at him. "What?"

"Dad took your keys and put them in his room." Terence explained. "As soon as we got home, he took them."

"Did I hear that correctly?" Lance asked over the phone. "Did that jerk of a dad take your keys?"

"Oui." Clank sighed.

"That's it. I'm coming back for you." Lance growled.

"Lance, no. I'm not leaving without my car." Clank argued. Terence stared at Clank while Lance remained silent on the phone. "I don't wanna leave it here." He said.

"Yeah, okay. I understand." Lance said. "Any chance you could get your keys back from your dad tonight?"

Clank shook his head, forgetting that Lance couldn't see him for the moment. "Probably not" he sniffled.

"Hey, don't worry about it. My offer's not gonna go away. As soon as you can get your keys, you're welcome to drive out here." Lance said.

Clank was choked up, but nodded, managing out an "Okay."

"You want me to stay on the phone for a while?" Lance asked. Clank really wanted to say yes, but Terence sitting beside him made him feel like his brother had stuff to say.

"No." Clank said finally.

"Okay, well, call me if you need to talk." Lance said. "Try and get some sleep, buddy."

"Okay." Clank said. "Lemme know when you get home" his voice cracked on the last word. He shakily hung up before Lance could say more. He held his head in his hands, unable to stop the sobs that tore through him.

Terence had his hand on his shoulder again, no idea how to comfort Clank. "Were you going to leave?" Terence asked. Clank didn't move, didn't answer. Terence sighed. "I hope not. I kinda like having a brother. Gets a little lonely when Dad's at work. I thought… maybe once you were feeling better, we could be friends." Clank lifted his head slightly, an idea had crept into his mind. "But I guess that's not going to happen." Terence sighed. "You don't like it here, and you don't like me, do you?"

Clank looked at Terence. "When's that party you wanted to go to?" he asked.

Terence was taken aback. That came out of nowhere. "Were you listening to me?"

"Yes." Clank said. "When's the party?"

"Next Thursday night. Why?" Terence asked.

"Well, you want to go, I figure it's only fair you get to. And Gary said you could go if I went too, right?" Clank asked.

"But aren't you grounded?" Terence asked.

"Let me worry about that." Clank said, the puzzle pieces in his mind started to fall into place.

"Are… are you okay?" Terence asked, both confused and concerned.

"Yeah, just fine." Clank said as he pulled out his phone once more to text Lance. "It's been a long day, I think I wanna go to sleep." Clank stretched for emphasis.

Terence got up. "Well, okay. If you say so." He got off Clank's bed and headed to the door. "You're sure you're good?"

"Yeah," Clank answered, not looking up from his phone as he typed.

"Well, okay, goodnight." Terence said, starting to leave.

"Good night." Clank said, hitting send. He looked up as Terence turned down the hall out of view. "Hey, Terence." He called after him. Terence leaned back, sticking his head in the doorway. "Thanks for checking up on me."

"Hey, no problem." Terence smiled. "G'night." He disappeared again, and Clank set his phone down, laying down to sleep. His last message to Lance still shining on his screen: **I have a plan. I think I can get out of here Thursday.**


	6. A Night To Remember

**WARNING: I've changed the rating on this fic because of this chapter. There are a couple triggering things that happen in this chapter, so please be aware of that if you choose to read this.  
** **NOTE: There's a strange cameo in this chapter. I promise it's plot relevant. Please bear with me on this.**

* * *

Clank hated having to kiss up to Gary, but if his plan was going to work it was necessary that he did so. He assumed that he was grounded for a month like Gary had threatened on his birthday, but Gary never specified again how long Clank was grounded. So for the next week, Clank was – as he called it – obedient. He answered when Gary spoke to him, and did so in English. He did everything he was told without complaint, and didn't ask for anything in return.

At night when Gary and Terence were asleep, he was putting more and more of his things in his suit cases, getting ready to sneak off to Lance's house. He was determined to get away and he was going to be ready for it when Thursday arrived. He just hoped that he could convince Gary to unground him for one night.

Late Tuesday night, Clank worked up the nerve to push forward in his plan. He found Gary in the living room, reading a book while Terence was playing a video game. "Gary?" He thought about saying _dad_ but he wouldn't stoop that low.

Gary looked up from his book. "Yes, Clank?"

Clank swallowed, reminding himself of the speech he'd practiced each night while he packed. "I know I'm grounded and everything, but…" He trailed off as Gary gave him a stern look. _Ne retournez pas en arrière._ he thought. "I was thinking about that party Terence wants to go to – Please, just hear me out." He said quickly noticing Gary was about to say something. "You told him he could go if I went too. I just think it would be nice if he could go spend time with his friends, you know? And with school starting soon… I only know two people, maybe I could make a couple more friends at the party… If you let us go that is."

Gary was quiet for a moment. Terence was glancing back and forth between him and Clank, holding his breath. Clank felt like Terence being there worked in his favor, because if Gary said no now, then he'd not only be punishing Clank, but Terence as well. "It was probably a little harsh of me to ground you last week." Gary said finally. "What time is the party?"

Clank looked to Terence. "Oh! Uh, it's at six."

"Six." Gary repeated. "My shift is at five. Will you be able to get to this party, boys?"

"Clank can drive, right?" Terence asked.

"I could." Clank agreed. "I don't mind."

Gary seemed to mull it over for a moment. "I guess as long as you both swear to be on your best behavior I'm fine with it. But I want you home by midnight, you understand?"

Clank felt lighter than air. "Yes, of course." He grinned. It was working. He couldn't believe it.

"Terence, who's going to be at this party?" Gary asked.

"Lemme think." Terence said. "Tink and her siblings, Fawn, Buck, Sil, Dess, Rosetta, and Vidia."

"Alright." Gary said. "Sounds like a safe group. You boys can go."

"Yes!" Clank cheered

"Thanks, Dad!" Terence grinned from ear to ear.

"Just stay out of trouble."

"Got it." Clank nodded. "I'm gonna go tell Sil." He hurried upstairs and grabbed his phone and texted Lance.

 **I managed to get Gary to unground me for Thursday, so I'll come there if I'm still welcome.**

A few minutes later, Lance texted back. **Of course you're still welcome. I'll see you Thursday night.**

From there, Clank was careful to stay in Gary's good graces, but was more relaxed about it than he'd been since his birthday. He wasn't about to blow his chances of leaving. He was nearly ready to go. Thursday arrived and all Clank had left to pack were the things that he always had on his desk and bed. Things he could get packed after Gary left for work. At around four, Clank pulled out his backpack and set it by his bed and headed downstairs to wait for Gary to head out.

Terence was doodling in a notebook, while Gary was wandering the kitchen in his security guard uniform. Clank hovered in the doorway of the kitchen, watching. There was still one thing he needed. His heart was pounding. He swallowed hard. "Heading to work soon?" Clank asked.

Gary turned to him for a second before returning to packing his supper. "Yes," he said. "You boys have a fun evening planned?"

Clank hesitated. "Yes. Um. You said we could go to that party Terence was talking about?"

"Did I?" Gary asked, not seeming to remember.

"Um. Yeah." Clank nodded nervously. Terence leaned on the counter across from his father then.

"Yeah, a couple days ago, you said we could go!" Terence said. "You said to behave ourselves and be home by midnight."

Gary paused for a moment. "I did, didn't I?" he said. "How are you getting there?"

"You said Clank could drive." Terence said.

"Yeah, but you still have my keys." Clank pointed out.

Gary shook his head slightly. "Right. Sorry, let me go get those for you." Gary left the kitchen, and immediately Clank started to work on packing Gary's dinner for him.

"You sure are being nice." Terence said.

"I… I'm just excited for the party." Clank shrugged.

"You're up to something." Terence said.

"Am not." Clank whispered.

"If you say so." Terence shrugged.

Gary returned just as Clank finished packing his food for him. "Thank you." Gary said as Clank handed over his cooler.

"You're welcome. And thank _you_." Clank said taking the keys with a grin. This was it. It was really happening. His mind was racing so fast he almost forgot to say goodbye when Gary left ten minutes later. He hurried upstairs and started throwing things into his backpack.

"What are you doing?" Terence stood in his doorway. Clank looked over his shoulder briefly, but continued filling his bag with the things from his desk. "Clank…?" Clank pulled open his closet and started to pull out his suit cases that he'd packed over the last week. "Are… are you leaving?" Terence asked.

Clank turned to him again. "Yeah." He said as if it should have been obvious. He grabbed his suit cases and backpack and shouldered past Terence to head downstairs.

"What? You can't leave!" Terence hurried after him. "Where are you gonna go?"

"Going back home." Clank said. "Lance said I can stay with him."

"But… What about school? What about Dad? What about ME?" Terence asked, clearly shocked by the situation.

"I can go back to my old school." Clank said. "And you and Gary can just go back to how things were two months ago. No problem, right?"

"Uh, yeah! Big problem!" Terence exclaimed. "You can't just ditch like this! I'm calling dad!"

"I'll be gone before he can get back here." Clank shrugged pulling the door open and heading out to his car. "I was going to take you to your party first, but I guess you'll have to miss out if you're just gonna rat me out."

Terence hesitated. "You think I care about that party? I'm not gonna let my brother just leave me here!"

Clank rolled his eyes and popped the trunk of his car. "Don't pull the brother card on me, you didn't even remember me when I came here."

"Yes I did! Not very well, but I kind of remember you being here on weekends sometimes! We used to play in the mud in the back yard! You always liked to make things out of sticks, and you could build block towers so much higher than I could!"

"You weren't even five yet. I can't have made that much of an impression on you." Clank hoisted his bags into the trunk. "I'm going home where I have real friends."

"Real friends like Silvermist?" Terence snapped as Clank slammed the trunk shut and was quiet then. "She was young too. You made an impression on her. She came looking for you, remember? And who says you can't have real friends here? You haven't even tried."

"Why should I try? It's not gonna change a damn thing." Clank muttered.

"And you think going back to Lance's will?" Terence argued. "If anything that would make things worse! She's not coming back Clank! Nothing you do will bring her back!"

"Shut up!" Clank snapped.

"Going back is just gonna stir up bad memories!" Terence shouted. "You're just gonna feel bad all over again!"

" _Shut up!_ " Clank said again, turning on Terence.

"Does Sil know? Did you tell her? Or are you just gonna disappear again?" Terence yelled.

Clank glared at Terence. "No, I didn't tell Sil." He admitted.

Terence gave a frustrated sigh. "She's gonna be pissed." He said. "You'd better tell her. You had better look her in the eye and tell her you're ditching her. That's something a _real_ friend would do. And you know all about real friends, don't you?" he shoved Clank. "That's who you're going to see, right? Your _real_ friends?"

Clank clenched the keys in his fist. "Sil's gonna be at the party, right?" he said calmly.

Terence nodded. "Yeah, she'll be there."

Clank sighed. "I got a few things still in the house. You'd better be ready to go when I've got everything." He headed back inside, Terence at his heels. "I'll stop in and say goodbye, but that's it."

"And here I thought you were finally excited about meeting my friends." Terence mumbled. Clank gave no reply and went to get the rest of his things.

The drive to the party was tense. Clank was still irritated and Terence was clearly still offended. The only time either spoke was when Terence was giving directions to the party. They were heading towards the wealthier side of town. The houses were bigger, the yards were greener and the cars were a lot nicer. Clank vaguely wondered which of Terence's friends was loaded, but didn't want to give him the pleasure of knowing he was curious.

"What the heck?" Terence said quietly as they turned a corner. One of the houses on the street had a whole bunch of cars parked out front. At least twenty, Clank thought. It was a little ridiculous. He saw the house number which matched the address Terence had told him.

"I thought you said this was a small get together." Clank said.

"It was supposed to be." Terence mumbled. "I guess word got out somehow."

"Well, you're not staying. I'm taking you back to Gary's." Clank said, turning the car around.

"What? No! No wait! Tink's there!" Terence said pointing to an old station wagon in the crowd. "That's her brother's car! I gotta go say hi!"

"Terence, no." Clank said firmly. "I'm still your big brother and while I'm still around you're not going to what has to be a madhouse party."

"Oh come on!" Terence said as they got back to the end of the street. Terence pointed out the window. "Look! There's Silvermist's car! You said you'd talk to her! Come _on_ Clank! Please!"

Clank clenched his teeth. "Fine!" he yelled and turned around again. He parked across the street from the large house and killed the engine. Terence threw the door open, but Clank reached over him and slammed it shut.

"What are you doing?" Terence demanded.

"Terence, listen to me." Clank said sternly.

"Come on, man! Let me go!" Terence tried the door again, but Clank grabbed his arm.

"Would you just listen?" he snapped. "Look, I know you're pissed at me right now, but this is serious. I'm leaving as soon as I talk to Sil weather you're with me or not. Can you get a ride home?"

Terence relaxed. "Yeah. I can catch a ride with Tink." He said.

"Good. One more thing." Clank said. "Just a general rule my mom always told me before I went to any parties. Don't take any drinks offered to you."

Terence rolled his eyes. "It's not gonna be that kind of party." He said.

"You never know, Terence." Clank said seriously. "Someone could've brought alcohol, or something worse. Don't take anything unless you know one hundred percent what it is. You got that?"

Terence nodded slowly. "I'll be careful."

"Good." Clank said, releasing his brother's arm. "If anything goes wrong, get out of there as soon as you can, okay?"

Terence grinned a little. "So you do care about me?"

"Of course I do." Clank said. "You're still my brother, even if I'm not around."

Terence sighed as he got out of the car. "I wish you wouldn't leave."

Clank said nothing as he followed Terence to the vast building which was more like a mansion than a house in Clank's opinion. He could hear the music blasting from outside, there were teenagers on the front lawn laughing and chatting. A few called out to Terence, while others threw jeering fat kid comments at Clank who sighed, glad he wasn't sticking around.

The music was even louder once inside. Clank winced at the noise and followed after Terence as he made his way through the dense crowd of teens. He already felt ten miles out of his comfort zone and really wanted to get out of there. Hopefully he could find Silvermist soon and say his goodbyes. He pulled out his phone and sent her a text.

 **Where can I find you?**

He hoped she would see the message soon. He looked up and couldn't see Terence anywhere. His chest felt tight and he clenched his phone in his fist. "Terence?" He called over the heads of the other teens. Clank started pushing past the crowds, earning glares and rude comments as he went. He really didn't want to be here. "Terence! Where'd you go?"

He bumped into a smaller girl, accidentally knocking her over. She yelped as she hit the floor. "I'm sorry!" Clank said immediately helping her up. "Are you alright?"

She brushed her white hair from her face and sighed. "I'm fine, thank you." She looked just as stressed as Clank felt.

"You look shook up. Do you wanna go outside?" Clank asked.

"If I can make it there, yeah. The crowd's too thick by the door." She replied.

"I noticed." Clank said. "Should we try around back?"

The girl smiled and nodded. Clank took her by the hand and continued nudging past people to get to a less crowded area. "I'm Periwinkle by the way." The girl said.

Clank smiled at her as he pulled her into a more spacious room. "Clement." He said.

"Don't think I've seen you around school. Are you new?" Periwinkle asked, taking the lead now and heading for the back of the house.

"Sort of." Clank said. "I'm just here for the summer. I'm going back home tonight." The more Clank looked at her the more familiar she seemed, but he chose not to comment on it.

"Oh," Periwinkle said as they got close to the back patio. "How'd you hear about this party then?"

"My brother told me about it. Said it was one last get together before school started." Clank explained.

Periwinkle looked like she was going to say something, but her eyes widened as she looked past Clank "No no no no! What are you doing?" she ran past Clank and between a few people.

"Peri?" Clank called after her, but she didn't hear him. There was a loud crash across the room that made Clank wince. He tried to spot Periwinkle but she'd disappeared amongst the crowd. He was about to go look for her, but felt his phone vibrate.

 **I'm at a party right now.** Silvermist had texted back.

Clank sighed and typed out a reply. **I know. I'm here too. Where are you?**

She replied quickly this time. **I didn't know you were coming! I'm out by the pool.**

Clank looked up from his phone. He could see out the back door a large recreational swimming pool with a whole slew of people crowded around it. Sil was out there somewhere. He made his way outside and weaved around the teenagers. Some were holding solo cups, others smoking, there were even a few skinny dipping. Clank was grateful that Silvermist was not among that last group. He was feeling so over whelmed. The large number of people all talking at once was making his head spin. He really needed to find Sil and get out of there.

"Clank!" he turned toward his name. "Clank, over here!" He looked over and saw Silvermist sitting on a deck chair, surrounded by a bunch of people. Relieved, he made his way to her.

"Sil, I'm so glad I found you." He breathed once in earshot. "I need to talk to you."

"Hang on, let me introduce you to everyone." Sil smiled.

"Sil, wait." Clank tried to stop her, but she didn't pay any attention.

"This is Iridessa." She said pointing to the black girl sitting on the chair with her. "And this is Rosetta." She leaned back against the girl standing behind her. "And these two" She pointed to the two sitting on the chair next to hers "Are Fawn and her brother Buck."

"Nice to meet you all." Clank said awkwardly. "Sil, please, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"Clank's my childhood friend." Silvermist explained, apparently not hearing Clank at all. "He and his mom lived next door until I was five. But now he's back! Guess he decided to live with his dad."

Clank swallowed. "Sil…"

"Well, welcome back." Buck said patting his back. Clank shivered. He didn't appreciate the physical contact.

"What grade are you in?" Iridessa asked.

"I'm a sophomore." Clank replied. "Sil…"

"Hey! Me too!" Iridessa smiled. "I wonder if we'll have any classes together."

"Um… yeah…" Clank stammered.

"Clank's absolutely brilliant." Silvermist bragged. "Even when we were little he was really talented and crafty. You should see the kinds of things he makes. I bet he'd get along really well with Tink's family."

"Terence's girl friend?" Clank asked.

"Yeah!" Fawn agreed. "Their whole family's super crafty. They get it from their mom I think."

"Their family's a bit odd, but real nice to be sure." Rosetta commented. "Tink one time invited me to come scavengin' in the scrap yard with her."

"How'd that go?" Iridessa asked.

"It didn't. You really think I'd be hangin' around that place? I turned Tink down." Rosetta shuttered.

"Yeah, probably a good thing you did." Buck said. "Would've been a bad idea."

"Tink's so reckless." Fawn said. "I've heard things about the men who own that place and I'd hate to be caught sneaking around there if any of them are true."

"What've you heard?" Iridessa asked.

"Silvermist!" Clank cut in loudly. The whole group looked up at him. "Can I _please_ talk to you for a minute?"

"Oh! Sure go ahead." She smiled up at him.

Clank rubbed his eyes. "In private?"

"Oh…" Silvermist stood up, handing her drink to Rosetta. "Sure, Clank. I'll be right back." She said to her friends. Clank led her inside and pulled her into a semi-empty hallway. There were a few kids lingering there, laughing and chatting loudly, but the hallway was at least quiet enough that Clank didn't have to shout to be heard.

"What did you want to talk about?" Silvermist smiled at him

Clank swallowed hard. He wasn't sure how he could say this. Silvermist had been the one good thing in his life the past few weeks. "Silvia…" he started. Her face immediately fell when he used her real name.

"What's wrong, Clank?" she asked softly, taking his hand in hers.

He sighed, staring at the floor. "You've been so good to me since I came here." He said. She stared at him, her eyes prompting him to continue. "I'm leaving, Sil."

Silvermist was silent. The other people in the hallway laughed, filling their dead air. "You're what…?" she finally asked.

"I'm going back home." Clank said. "I'm really glad to have seen you again, and I've had a lot of fun with you, but I just can't stay here. I hate it here."

He didn't know what to expect, but he certainly didn't expect Sil to slap him. He held his cheek as it stung. She looked to be on the brink of tears. "You jerk!" she shouted. "After everything you're just going to ditch me? Am I not good enough for you?" she demanded.

"I… Silver"

"No! Don't call me that!" she snapped. "You show back up in my life and I've done nothing but be sweet to you and now you're just _leaving_ like it's no big deal?"

"It is a big deal! That's why I wanted to tell you goodbye!" Clank said pleadingly. "Please Sil, I need you to be okay with this."

"Is it because I'm not your girlfriend?"

"What?"

"Is it because I never kissed you?"

"Sil, what are you" she cut him off by curling her arm around his neck and pressing her lips to his. Clank immediately pushed her off. "Silvia, stop it. This has nothing to do with you."

"If it has nothing to do with me then you should've left me out of it!" Silvermist turned and ran out of the hallway.

"Sil, wait!" he yelled after her, trying to catch up. "Wait!" he didn't see which way she'd gone. He stood in the crowd, scanning for her but couldn't see a sign of her anywhere. He sighed and started making his way for the front door. He'd told her, so he could get on his way now. Muscling his way to the front door, he made it outside and headed to his car. He pulled out his phone and texted Terence.

 **I told her. I'm leaving now. Be safe.**

He got in his car and sat behind the wheel, trying to will himself to start the engine. He stared at his phone, waiting for a response from Terence. Five minutes passed. Then ten. Twenty. With an aggravated sigh, Clank turned over the engine and drove off. He cranked up his music, _Ta Fête_ blasting over the speakers, hurting his ears, but he didn't care. He'd told Sil, he kept his promise to Terence. He was going home.

 _Voulez-vous vraiment laisser les choses comme ça,_ _Clankie?_ Clank drew in a sharp breath. He'd been driving for half an hour now. The same question kept echoing in his head. In Her voice no less. He pulled over, trying to reason with the voice. Muttering in French all sorts of excuses like having tried to say goodbye, warning Terence to be careful, it's not like he asked for this. But the voice kept asking: _Voulez-vous vraiment laisser les choses comme ça,_ _Clankie?_

"Non…" he finally conceded. He got back on the road, heading back to the large, overcrowded house. It was 8:30 by the time he'd gotten back. He checked his phone. No messages from Terence or Sil. He had one from Lance that he'd look at later, probably just asking if he was on his way. He made his way through the dense crowds, asking here and there if anyone had seen Silvermist.

"You her boyfriend?" a muscular looking boy asked.

"Not exactly." Clank said. "Have you seen her?"

"No, but I'll keep an eye out." He smirked at him. "You new here?"

"Sort of…" Clank said, wanting to get away and look for Sil.

"You play any sports? Bet you'd be a good addition to the football team." The boy grinned at him.

"Um. Yeah, I played for my school back home." Clank said. "I really need to go find Silvermist."

"Hang on," the guy put a hand on his shoulder. "Tell you what. I'll help you look, if you promise to try out for the team."

Clank tried to pull away. "Yeah, sure."

"Sweet. What's your name?" The boy asked.

"Clement Boutin." Clank answered.

"Fancy name there. I'm Eric Dozer." He held his hand out to Clank, who shook it. "I'll keep an eye out for your girl." He grinned wickedly. "We'll be in touch, Boutin."

"Right…" Clank said, not mentioning that he wasn't going to be at their school.

The kids at this party seemed a lot more loosened up than when Clank had left. Then again he'd been gone for over an hour. A lot of stuff can happen in that time. Clank made his way into the kitchen. At the sink he spotted the long black hair he knew and made his way over.

"Silvermist." He breathed. The girl turned around and sort of draped herself on Clank. She curled her arms around him, tucking her head under his chin. She smelled awful. Like beer and vomit. Maybe the latter was coming from the sink. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"You came back…" she said, her speech slurring. "Knew you would… you always come back…"

"Sil. How much have you had to drink?" Clank asked, seriously worried now.

"Whaaaat? I haven't been drinking" she hiccuped.

Clank sighed. "Come on, we gotta find Terence." He said, dragging her away from the sink

"Hey! Hey, hey, Clank. Clank guess what Clank. Guess what." Sil said poking him repeatedly in the chest.

"What?"

"I'm… Wait gimme your hand." She quickly grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand to her chest, making him cup one of her breasts. She giggled.

"Sil!" Clank jerked his hand away. "What are you… Why aren't you wearing a bra?" he said in a harsh whisper.

"That's not the _only_ thing I'm not wearing." She said, hiking up her dress. Clank grabbed her hands before her skirt passed her knees, making the fabric drop from her hands.

"Sil!" he hissed. "Where's your underwear?" he demanded quietly.

She just laughed. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"What did you do after I left?" Clank said, dragging her along. "Did you sleep with someone?"

"Not yet." She grinned up at him. "But if you wanna we could…"

"Silvermist. No." Clank shot her down. "You're drunk and I'm not having sex with you."

"Aw, come on…" she drawled. "Please, Clank? I always wanted my first time to be with someone I trusted. You're someone I trusted. Right?"

Clank wasn't sure if it was the alcohol that made her use past tense a second time or if he really had broken her trust, but either way he wasn't going to betray it now. "I'm not letting you have sex when you're drunk. Seriously how much have you had?"

She buried her face in his side, laughing. "Dunno. How much did they put in the punch?"

Clank groaned. "How many glasses of punch did you have?" she hiccuped but didn't answer. "How much, Sil?"

"Four glasses." She said.

"Oh mon Dieu." Clank sighed. "Come on. We gotta get you out of here." He pulled out his phone and dialed Terence. His phone went straight to voice mail. "Zut! Come on Terence!"

"Is that Rani?" Silvermist lifted her head.

"Who?" Clank looked where Sil was looking.

She gasped and giggled. "It is! Clank! I'll be right back I gotta tell her how to breathe under water!"

"Sil wait!" she pushed off his side and slipped through the crowd before Clank could grab her. "Merde! Silvermist!"

He elbowed shuffled around other party goers trying to catch up to her. "Hey!" He could just see her head through the crowds. "Hey!" Someone grabbed him. A girl about Sil's size. She also had long dark hair, but her face was a lot more angular.

"What?" Clank demanded.

"Can you settle a bet for me?" she asked.

"A what? No! I need to catch my friend!" Clank moved away from the girl.

"You mean Sil? She'll be fine. This'll only take a second."

"Let go of me!" Clank pulled his wrist away.

The girl sighed, "Look. She's going over to Rani, right?"

"Yeah, that's who she said she was trying to find." Clank said.

"Okay, look." The girl pulled out her phone and sent out a quick text and showed it to Clank. It was to Rani and read **Keep an eye on Sil for a minute.**

Clank looked over and saw the tall blond check her phone just as Silvermist got to her. He rubbed his temples. "Okay, fine. Real quick. What do you need?"

The girl smirked and pulled Clank into an archway where a tall, skinny boy was standing, or rather swaying back and forth. "I need you to tell us which one of us is the better kisser." The girl said.

" _What?_ " Clank said incredulously.

"She thinks she's a better kisser than I am." The boy said. "Which is absolute nonsense." His speech sounded even more slurred than Silvermist's. _Grand, un autre ivrogne._

"So what I was thinking was you kiss both of us, and tell us who really is the better kisser." The girl said.

"That's ridiculous. I'm not kissing either of you! I don't even know you two!"

"Perfect!" the boy exclaimed. "You'd be an impartial judge then!"

"Look, I really need to get to Silvermist." Clank said, trying to get away.

"She's not going anywhere." The girl waved him off. "So, who first?"

"I'm not kissing either of you!" Clank yelled.

"Ladies first." The boy gave a slight bow to her.

The girl smirked and threw her arm around Clank's neck and tried to lean in for a kiss. Clank pulled his face back from her. "Stop that!" he snapped.

The girl sighed and looked up at Clank, pressing her chest to his. "Look, pal. The sooner we get this done, the sooner you can go find Silvermist."

Clank pushed at her, trying to get her to let go. "I never agreed to this!" he shouted.

The skinny boy touched his shoulder, a slight frown on his lips. "Are you okay?" he asked. Clank paused, staring at the boy who looked incredibly sympathetic right then. That was when the girl grabbed he face and pressed her lips against his.

Clank squirmed in protest, but she held tight to him, moving her lips trying to coax him to kiss back. The thin boy was yelling at her to stop, that Clank didn't want to kiss them but she ignored him. Clank tried to pry her off but she was surprisingly strong for her size. Growling in frustration he figured the easiest way to get her to let go was to give her what she wanted. He kissed her back. One awful kiss later, she let go.

"Pretty nice, huh?" she smirked and shoved Clank back at the boy.

Clank wiped his mouth, glaring at her. The boy gently held his shoulders, also glaring at the girl. "I'm sorry." He mumbled.

"Your turn." The girl smirked.

"He doesn't want to kiss me!" the boy argued. Clank looked down at him, and their eyes met. "You can go now if you want." The boy slurred. Clank glared at the girl then glanced back at the boy.

"Might as well finish the competition." Clank said.

The boy recoiled slightly. "You don't have to do that."

"You're just chickening out because you know I'll win." The girl rolled her eyes. The boy slumped his shoulders.

"Are you gonna let her talk like that?" Clank asked quietly. The boy's glance shot up. "Kiss me." Clank whispered.

The boy nodded and straightened up. He put his hands on Clank's shoulders and slowly slid them around his neck. He leaned his forehead against Clank's, he was trembling, and Clank could smell the alcohol on his breath. He knew this was a bad idea, but he was so angry at that girl he had to get back at her somehow. Gently the drunk boy's lips found Clank's. They were soft and hesitant, and began to move experimentally. Clank curled his arms around the boy's back gently holding him. He cupped Clank's cheek and parted his lips, and Clank leaned into him. The boy slid his tongue out but recoiled quickly. Clank let his slide into the boy's mouth for a bit, urging him to do what he wanted to do. Soon the two of them were kissing passionately, Clank's hand's sliding up the boy's back while the boy's long fingers tangled in his hair.

They broke away almost two minutes later, both short of breath. The boy's face was flushed, and his glasses were crooked. Clank could see out of the corner of his eye that the girl was in utter shock. Clank smiled at the boy. "You win." He said, leaning forward and brushing his lips against the boy's one more time before leaving the two of them to find Silvermist. Behind him he heard the boy shout out "Ha ha! I win!" and the girl started yelling in protest. He ignored it, smirking that he'd gotten his little revenge.

He touched his lips, grinning. Even though that boy was drunk, he was actually a pretty good kisser. He might even have been interested in sticking around a little longer just to get more. _Non_ he thought. _Vous allez à la maison. Oublie le_. He continued his way through the crowd to where he saw the blond girl he'd seen Silvermist run off with.

Clank was shocked to find the girl alone. He racked his brain to remember what Sil had said her name was. "Rani?" he said when he remembered.

"Can I help you?" The girl asked.

"My friend Silvia was talking to you a minute ago, do you know where she went?" Clank asked.

"Silvermist?" Rani clarified.

"Yes," Clank nodded. "I need to take her home before she gets sick again."

"Probably a good call." Rani agreed. "She said she was going to the bathroom. She headed that way." The girl pointed toward a far hallway.

"Thank you." Clank said. He headed down the hallway, hoping he would come across Silvermist quickly. The dense crowd of teens was making him feel sick. He craned his neck, trying to spot her but couldn't spot any sign of the familiar long black hair. In the back of his mind he knew he still had to find Terence. He only hoped he had listened to his advice and avoided the alcohol.

He got through the crowded hallway, finding neither Silvermist nor the bathroom she supposedly disappeared to. His chest felt tight. He was starting to feel his own pulse pounding in his head. Things shouldn't have been like this. He should be on his way home now. He really didn't want to be here. But Silvermist needed him now, and he he had to find her.

He reached the end of the hall and ran into the big guy he'd met earlier. He forgot his name, but he grabbed him when he saw him. "Hey, Boutin. You find your girl yet?"

Clank shook his head. "Well, technically yes, but she ran off. Have you seen her? She's drunk and I gotta get her home before something happens to her."

"Is she now?" The guy said. "Don't worry, Boutin. I'll find her for you." He passed by Clank, heading back the way Clank had come.

Clank continued for another ten minutes, but was unsuccessful. He leaned against a wall, and stared up at the balcony for the second floor. "Oú es tu allé?" He muttered. He tried to think of where to look, coming up with nothing. He sent out a text to Sil, asking where she had gone, but in her drunken state, he wasn't expecting a response.

Periwinkle passed him then. "Hey!" Clank reached out to her, stopping her. She looked up at him, tears in her eyes. She was on her phone at the moment, but gave Clank a questioning look. "I'm trying to find my friend, Silvia. Do you know her? She goes by Silvermist."

"Hang on, grandpa." She muttered into the phone "No, I haven't seen her in a while."

"What about Terence McGreggor? Have you seen him?"

Her look turned sour. "Yes, I saw him a few minutes ago. He was upstairs on one of the outside balconies."

"Thank you. Where are the stairs?" Clank asked. She pointed, while continuing her conversation on the phone.

"Everything is way out of control, grandpa! Bobble is drunk and…" Clank couldn't hear her after that as she walked away then. Clank followed where she had pointed and made his way upstairs. He was checking all the windows, trying to find where the balcony was, hoping his brother would still be there.

He finally spotted him from one window. He was on the opposite side of the house, the balcony was overlooking the pool. He was with a blonde girl who Clank assumed was Tink, and was talking and laughing with her, every now and then would lean close to her and kiss her. Clank began making his way around the second level to get to his brother. By the time he reached them, they were kissing each other sloppily. Clank rolled his eyes, thinking they needed practice. His mind wandered briefly to the boy he kissed downstairs, but he quickly pushed it from his mind and tapped on the window behind them.

Both Terence and Tink startled at the sound and Clank opened the glass door to talk to them. "Terence, I'm glad I found you."

"Clank? What are you doing here? I thought you left." Terence said.

"I did, but I came back." Clank said. "I was worried."

The girl smiled. "That's sweet of you. I'm Tinkerbell, Terence's girlfriend." She held her hand out to him. "My friends call me Tink."

Clank gave her a polite smile and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Clank."

"Terence told me you were running away. I'm glad you changed your mind." Tink smiled.

Clank shook his head. "No, I'm still going. I just had to make sure he was okay."

"I'm fine." Terence assured him. "I've been careful. Haven't had a drop of alcohol."

Tink laughed "No one has, there's no alcohol here."

Clank's brow furrowed. "You obviously haven't been paying attention to the party. I've talked to at least three drunks in the last hour trying to find Terence."

"What?" Tink asked, shocked.

"One of whom happens to be Silvermist."

"Oh no." Terence said quietly.

"She ran off and I've been trying to find her. Can you help me?" Clank asked.

"Yes, yes of course." Tink said, pulling out her phone. "I'll get Bobble and Peri to look for her too."

"Periwinkle?" Clank asked.

"Yeah, my sister." Tink confirmed. Clank nodded, not having realized he'd met one of her family members already. Now that he thought about it, he remembered Peri coming to the door that day to invite him to the movie.

"Okay, they'll keep their eyes out for her" Tink said.

"Great." Clank sighed "text me if you find her." He almost turned to leave, but had to say one more thing to Terence. "Turn your phone back on."

Stunned, Terence reached for his phone and started to switch it on as Clank walked away. Finding one person in a large house was hard, especially with a sea of people. But with five pairs of eyes looking now, maybe they could find Silvermist sooner rather than later.

Clank rounded a corner and happened to catch a glimpse of long black hair disappearing down a hall way. "Silvermist!" He called after her, running to catch up with her. He got to the hallway just in time to see a door shut. He sighed in relief, that must be where she was now. He went to the door and entered the room.

It appeared to be just an empty bedroom when he stepped inside. "Sil?" He moved into the room, thinking she had to be here. "Silvermist?" The door slammed shut behind him and the lights went out before he could turn around. There were no windows in this room, so the only source of light was from an alarm clock against the wall. Clank could make out the silhouette of a long haired girl where the door disappeared. "Sil? Is that you?"

She slowly moved toward him, saying nothing. Clank felt for his phone, and pulled it out. He was about to wake the screen up for more light, but she lay her hand on his, and gently pried the phone from his hand. Clank's heart pounded to where he was certain they could both hear it. "Sil, what are you doing?" She put her hands on his chest. Clank stepped back, his breath quickened. She kept moving closer to him, keeping her hands on him. "Please st- woah!" His legs hit the bed and he fell back on it. In the same moment, his companion climbed onto his lap and cupped his cheek softly.

"Sil, please…" Clank put his hands on her sides, trying to lift her off his lap. He paused a moment, lightly squeezing the body on his lap, feeling the fabric beneath his fingertips. Silvermist had been wearing a knit dress, this girl was wearing a stiff shirt and jeans. "You're not Silvermist." Clank whispered then.

Lips found his then, brushing gently at first then pressing hard against his own. Too stunned by the action of yet another stranger kissing him, Clank froze. She pulled away. "Brilliant deduction." She said. Clank recognized her voice. She was the same girl from the kissing contest. She shoved his shoulders and he fell back on the bed. Before he knew what was happening, she was over him, pinning his wrists to the bed and again forcing her mouth on his.

Clank tried to struggle beneath her, but every time he tried to wriggle free, she would press her body against his. She broke the kiss to breathe but before Clank could tell her to wait, her lips were on his again. He tried to pull his hands free, but she held tight, digging her nails into his wrists.

She pulled back and hovered a mere inch from his face. In the dark, Clank could make out a smirk pulling at her lips. "You really think that geek is better than me?" She said. Clank couldn't comprehend what she meant. His mind was racing, and nothing made sense. He just stared up at her, unable to form words. "I'll show you he isn't."

"Qu'est-ce que tu racontes?" Clank asked, panic in his voice. She leaned down and kissed down his neck. "Qu'est-ce que tu fais?!"

She reached over and clicked on the bedside lamp then sat up, straddling Clank's hips. The orange glow from the lamp, highlighted her angular features. Clank trembled as she ran her hands down his stomach and up her own chest. "No need to sweet talk me." She said, unbuttoning her shirt. Clank couldn't tear his eyes away as she dropped her shirt on the floor.

She leaned forward again, pushing Clank's shirt up his stomach. He grabbed her hands, shaking his head. "Non, s'il te plaît, arrête." He breathed.

She twisted her hands, breaking free from his grasp and ran her hands over his exposed stomach. "Don't be shy. I love bigger guys." She rolled her hips forward as she said it, rubbing against him in a way he wished didn't feel good.

"Arrêtez…" Clank squeezed his eyes shut. This was a bad dream. He would wake up and the day would start over. He would send Gary to work, and drop Terence off with his friends and go back home and everything would be okay. He wouldn't be pinned beneath this vicious girl who didn't seem to care about a single thing he said. "Laisse-moi aller"

He felt her lift off of him. He cracked his eyes open, relief filling him that she was finally listening. The feeling vanished as soon as it came as she grabbed his belt and pulled the buckle open. "Arrêtez!" Clank yelled, grabbing her hands.

"Did you forget how to speak English?" She asked. Clank was stunned. He hadn't even realized he had been speaking French. She took his moment of shock to pull open the button and zipper of his pants.

"Attendez!" Clank shouted, then shook his head as she started pulling the fabric back. He threw his hands over his crotch once she'd had him exposed "Wait!" He cried. She stopped and looked up at him. "I… I don't want this!" Clank sputtered.

That should have been the end of it, but the smirk on her lips told him otherwise. "Oh really?" She took his wrists again and pulled them away, revealing his stiff cock. "Seem to me you want this more than you're willing to admit." She curled her fingers around the shaft and slowly pulled down.

"Non!" Clank gasped, trying to scoot back from her. "Arrêtez! Stop! Please!" She kept her hold on him, keeping him from going too far. With her other hand she undid her own jeans and pushed them off her hips. She kicked them off as she crawled back over Clank. She grabbed his wrists and pinned them to the bed before he could go for his pants and straddled his hips once more.

"Non, non, non, non, non!" Clank whimpered. The girl ignored him and rocked her hips against him, rubbing her silk panties against his cock, the fabric hot and wet from her obvious desire.

"Why fight this?" She asked slyly. "You obviously like this. You want this. You want me." Clank panted and shook his head. She smirked and released his hands, reaching back to unhook her bra. Clank turned his head and squeezed his eyes shut. He absolutely did not want to see her expose herself more. She leaned over him once more, draping her body on his. She nibbled his neck just below his ear, and Clank heaved deep breaths, trying to keep himself from crying.

"Touch me." She whispered in his ear.

"Non." Clank choked.

"Please." She continued. Clank just shook his head. "Come on. Just do it." She took his hand again and pulled it to her waist. He recoiled as soon as his fingers touched her skin.

"I don't want to!" He protested.

She reached between them and stroked the head of Clank's cock. Clank gasped and he bucked his hips. His eyes shot open, and he looked up at her absolutely horrified by his own reaction. "Keep telling yourself that." She smirked. Clanks eyes quickly trailed down her body from her lips, to her perky breasts, her narrow body, down to her lavender panties and quickly back to her eyes. "Like what you see?"

Clank bit his lip and shook his head. She threw her head back and laughed, arching forward, coaxing a groan from Clank. "You're a bad liar." She said. She slid off his lap, grabbing his pants again, jerking them down as he made a grab for them. "Let's get on with it, yeah?" Clank sat up in time to see her strip off her panties.

She was on his lap again before he could get to his feet. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his again. Clank pulled back, panting "Please, I don't want this." He breathed.

"Liar." The girl said as she shoved him back again. She held down his shoulders as she hovered over his hips again. He felt her lower down, her pussy hot against his head.

He grabbed her shoulders, on the verge of hyperventilating "No, no, no, no, please no! Please stop! Stop! Please!" He let out a strangled cry as she slid down onto him. He felt tears streak down his face. She felt hot and tight around him. He could hear her panting above him.

"Tighter fit… than I was expecting…" she breathed. He stared up at her. She was forcing a smile. "It feels good though." She grinned down at him. She lifted up slightly, and sank back down, sighing.

Clank hated to admit that it felt good. He hated her for doing this to him. He hated Silvermist for running. Terence for begging to be here. Gary for taking his car away, Jean for sending him here, but mostly he hated himself for letting this happen. He hated how stupid he'd been. He hated his body for feeling good. He just wanted to disappear.

"Yes…" the girl breathed as she rode him. "Yes… mmm…" she leaned forward and took his hands once more. Clank gave up fighting her. She'd already got what she wanted. She slid his hands over her thighs and to her hips. "C'mon. Help me out here."

Clank gave a shuttering breath and held her hips, and reluctantly began rocking his own. She drew in a sharp breath and squeezed his wrist. "Yes… more…" she pulled his hand up to her chest. "Touch me." She instructed. Clank obliged, gently squeezing her breast. She glided her hands up his stomach, and let her head fall forward again. She pushed his shirt up further and teased his nipples. "See? I knew you wanted me." She said. It sounded like a taunt to Clank. "Isn't it so much easier if you just give in?"

Clank paid little attention after that. He just let her do what she wanted, let her guide his hands where ever she wished to be touched. All the while he tried to hold back any grunts or moans that would give away how physically pleasing this was. He came with a loud gasp and she stopped soon after. He didn't know or care if she'd gotten off and was more relieved that it was over. She laughed at him as he pulled his shirt down.

"I told you I was better than that geek." She said as she gathered her clothes. Clank pulled his pants up and held his head in his hands, staring at the floor as she dressed and left him there alone.

He didn't care anymore. He didn't care about finding Silvermist. He didn't care about going home. Everything in that moment was a blur to him. Everyone outside that room continued on like nothing had happened while he sat there, used and ashamed. It was over, but it had still happened. He almost wished he had been drinking too. At least that way he might not remember.

Clank picked himself up and trudged out of the room and made his way downstairs. He figured he would just wait in the car for Terence and go back to Gary's house. He really didn't feel like he could make the drive to Lance's house at that point. All Clank wanted to do at that moment was forget everything.

He passed through the living room and spotted the football player from before, Eric Dozer, looming over the ginger boy Clank had encountered before. He didn't hear a word they said, but watched as Dozer shoved the boy on the ground. The skinny boy quickly rolled over and scrambled over something on the ground.

Clank intended to ignore it, but heard Dozer hiss "Get off her! She's mine!" He tried to get a better look at what, or rather who the boy had climbed on. All his air escaped him at the sight he saw. The ginger had thrown himself on a passed out Silvermist. His arms were around her waist, his head against her chest and his knees tucked under her ass.

"Hey!" Clank yelled, pushing his way over to the scene. He wasn't about to let the same thing that had just happened to him happen to Silvermist. Dozer pried the thin boy off Silvermist just as Clank got close. He was thrown on the ground again as Clank picked Sil off the floor. "I've got you…" he whispered to her.

"Oh hey, it's you." Dozer grinned as he kicked the boy in the side. "This little creep was getting a little too handsy with your girl." Clank looked down at the boy, who coughed and tried to get up again. He held Silvermist protectively and felt in his pocket for his phone to message Terence that he had her. It wasn't in his pocket. He felt a twinge of panic in his chest. That girl had taken it from him. Did she still have it? Was it in that room?

"You know, a little thank you may be in order." Dozer smirked.

"Liar." The thin boy coughed.

"Shut up." Dozer kicked him again.

"Stop it!" Clank yelled. "Look, I don't know what just happened, but I got Sil back, so just drop it!"

Dozer glared at him. "You owe me." He said angrily. He turned and walked off. Clank stared down at the ginger boy, debating if he should help him or not. It really did look like he was trying to get under Silvermist's skirt just then, but he couldn't be sure.

He decided to walk away. Even if he had kissed the kid, he didn't know him. It wasn't really his business anymore what happened to him. Besides, he didn't want any more reminders of that girl, and the skinny boy did put her back in his head.

"Let's get you home." Clank whispered to Sil as he started shoving his way out of the crowd again. He saw both Peri and Tink run from the crowd, but he paid no attention once they were past him.

A loud screaming came from the front of the house, followed by a huge crash. _Now what?_ Clank wondered. People were running away from the front, working against Clank and eventually knocking him down. Clank held tight to Silvermist trying to see through the crowd to spot what was causing this commotion. There was a quick beeping sound followed by another blast and that's when Clank saw what he couldn't believe. A wild looking man soared over the crowd and landed in front of the retreating crowd.

The man laughed manically, but Clank couldn't see what was happening. He dragged himself backwards until his back was pressed against a wall. He held Sil close, determined to protect her from this maniac and the rushing crowd that now fled in the other direction. Clank managed to pull himself and Silvermist into a closet along the wall and peered out the door, waiting for it to be safe to leave. As the crowd thinned, Clank was readying himself to grab Sil and make a break for it. He clutched the doorknob tightly and was about to swing it open. He froze before he made his move seeing something even more terrifying than the wild man in the living room.

Wordlessly making his way through the hall was what Clank could only describe as a giant. He walked slowly, stepped heavily, and breathed loudly through a mask. The mask he wore was like a gas mask, but modified with black leather to give him the face of a pig. Clank tried to keep his panicked breath quiet. The giant passed his hiding spot, seemingly ignoring all the screaming from the lawn as people fled. Clank could only watch as the house cleared out and the two intruders met in the living room.

"Too old for this." The giant wheezed.

"The fuck are ya talkin' about?" The wild man barked "all you did was walk through the hallway. I'm the one who had ta blast 'imself over the masses."

"I broke the door down." The giant said.

"Oh boo hoo, poor Hogsworth is so old he gets winded from breakin' a door." The wild man teased.

The giant sighed. "Anyone else here?"

"Besides these three I think we scared them all off." The other said. Clank tried to see around the giant to see who was still there. He hoped it wasn't Terence. At least he and Sil were hidden.

The giant crouched down, leaning over one of their hostages. "Get up." He growled. Clank held his breath. He was terrified for whoever was still there. They must be terrified too with that behemoth looming over them.

To Clank's surprise, he didn't hear screams or whimpers. What he instead heard was a laugh. The giant growled and stood back up, hoisting whomever he was threatening off the ground. Clank gasped seeing the thin red head once more being thrown over the giant's shoulder, still laughing. The fool was so drunk he didn't even realize he was being kidnaped.

"Quit laughing." The giant shook the boy. He stopped laughing and groaned.

"Oi, ya puke on Hoggy, yer in for a world a trouble. Got that?" The wild man shouted. He leaned over and grabbed onto their second hostage. Clank gasped, recognizing Tinkerbell being pulled close to the maniac. "Best get outta here b'fore any real trouble starts." The man pushed Tink's back and she started down the hallway, coming toward Clank. She looked upset, but Clank wondered why she didn't look more scared.

The giant was following behind the wild man, with the boy over one shoulder. Clank now recognized Periwinkle as well. The giant had her in his other arm, holding her against his chest.

"Hey, how we gonna carry them all on the bike?" The wild man asked when they were right outside the closet door.

"Take Phin's car." The giant grunted. Clank heard them exchange a set of keys, not daring to look out the door again. "I'll take her. You take them."

"Man, why d'you get the good one?" The wild voice asked.

"Why is she the good one?" Tink's voice rang out.

"Oi, shut it!" The wild one snapped. "Don' forget. Yer in a lot of trouble here." The voices started to disappear.

Clank hugged Silvermist close, breathing hard, trying to stay calm. He had to get up. He had to get out of there and get somewhere safe. Way too much had happened tonight, and he couldn't comprehend it. He carefully pushed the closet door open and peered out to find the hall empty. He crawled out and stood up, picking Sil up again and carrying her outside. He saw across the vast lawn most of the cars had disappeared, some party goers were still within sight, but running as the two men made their exit, moving for the old station wagon parked out front.

The giant dropped the boy in the back seat, while the wild man made sure Tink got in the front before heading around to take the wheel himself. The giant then carried Peri over to a massive motorcycle and set her in the side car before climbing on and driving off, the station wagon not far behind him.

"Clank!" He turned to the sound of his name. Terence was running to him. Thank God he was safe. "Clank, they took Tink! They took her and her siblings!"

Clank just stared at Terence, completely frazzled. "Are you hurt?" He asked.

Terence hesitated then shook his head. "I'm… I'm fine…"

"Then let's go." Clank said. "Nothing we can do for them here." Terence followed Clank to his car. Silvermist was laid in the back seat while the brothers sat up front. He started the drive back to Gary's house while Terence got on the phone to call his father, informing him of what has happened and that they were safe. All plans of running to Lance's were abandoned now as Clank listened to Terence talk. The horrific events of the night kept replaying in Clank's head. The men. The girl. Clank felt scared. He felt dirty. He wanted it to go away.

He thought about the two men driving off with the three teens. Their actions of loading them in the vehicles almost looked careful when Clank thought about it. He didn't know what to make of it. He had no idea what he had just witnessed. But he did know he wouldn't ever forget it.


	7. Total Confusion

Clank lay Silvermist on the bare bed in his room and went to sit on the couch downstairs. Terence paced in front of him, chewing his thumbnail. Clank would have tried to comfort him if the events of the evening weren't playing in his head over and over again. That wild man flying over the terrified crowd. The giant throwing Tink's brother over his shoulder. The two of them taking the teens away to do who knows what to them. It was entirely possible that those three were dead now.

A sob escaped Terence's throat. Clank was snapped from his thoughts and stood up and pulled Terence into a hug. Terence squeezed him back and sobbed into his shoulder. "I should have never left her side." Terence cried. Clank nodded, feeling the same about Silvermist. "Tink would be safe right now if I stayed with her. But _you_ made us look for Silvermist! Why is it that your girlfriend is safe when mine got kidnaped?"

"Hey!" Clank backed away from Terence. "This isn't my fault!"

"Like hell it's not!" Terence argued. "You're the one who wanted to run away from home! You're the one who lost track of Silvermist! So because of _you_ we all had to look for her! And _now_ Tink, Peri, and Bobble are all gone! It's _your_ fault Clank!"

"It's not my fault!" Clank yelled. "I never wanted to be at that stupid party anyway! _You're_ the one who begged to go! _You_ insisted I tell Sil I was leaving!"

"Then why didn't you just go after you told her?" Terence demanded. "If you hadn't have come back none of this would have happened! Tink would be safe and I wouldn't have to deal with all your crying all the time!"

"I wish I hadn't come back! But I felt bad for leaving my _brother_ who was trying to convince me not to go! Now I'm stuck back here with two insensitive pricks who won't let me feel sad! I'm allowed to be upset, Terence! My mother fucking _died!_ " Clank froze as his own words hung there. It had been over a month since he moved here, but this was the first he ever said out loud what happened. Terence stared at him, shock and concern written on his face. Clank fell heavily back on the couch, the wound in his heart freshly ripped open. He hunched over his knees and shook as the the familiar ache took hold.

"She's dead. Now your friends might be dead too. It's all my fault and I'm sorry." Clank sobbed.

"No, no, no. Clank, no. It's not your fault." Terence sat by him and rubbed his back. "It's not your fault. I'm sorry. I… I was just mad… and scared." Clank held himself and choked on the sobs that came. "I am glad you came back. I had no idea what I was going to tell dad when you weren't here."

Clank sniffled and looked at Terence. "He probably would have come after me and dragged me back." Clank sighed.

"Probably." Terence nodded. "I was really excited to introduce you to my friends… once you were ready."

"Tink seems nice." Clank commented.

"She is… when you're on her good side." Terence grinned. "Her sister is single by the way."

Clank frowned. "Might want to think before you try and hook me up with her."

"Oh…" Terence sighed and stared at the floor. "Right. Man, what must they be feeling right now?"

"I doubt their brother even realizes he's in trouble." Clank grimaced.

"What do you mean?" Terence asked.

"I saw them get taken… I was hiding in the closet protecting Silvermist. He was laughing when that giant picked him up." Clank explained. "I ran into him earlier. He was so drunk he couldn't stand without swaying."

"Bobble doesn't drink…" Terence said.

"Apparently he does." Clank said.

The front door clicked open then and Gary rushed inside. He immediately threw an arm over both the boys' shoulders. "Terence, Clement, I'm glad you're both okay."

"We're fine Dad." Terence pat his back. Clank held Gary's shoulder and buried his face into it, really needing the comfort.

They held like that for a moment, Gary sighed a he stood back up. "I should have never agreed to let you two go to that party." He turned on Terence then. "You said it was just a small group of friends."

"I thought it would be." Terence said truthfully. "I had no idea it would be as crazy as it was."

"You're lucky nothing bad happened to you two." Gary said. Clank glanced to the side. That wasn't entirely true. The girl flashed through his head again. "You should have come home when you saw what was going on."

"I know." Terence sighed. "Clank wanted to. I convinced him to stay." Clank looked over at him, surprised that he told Gary.

"Is that true?" Gary asked Clank.

"Oui…" Clank answered. "I mean, yes… sorry…"

Gary pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's alright, Clank. But you're both grounded."

Both of them nodded. "Yeah, that's fair." Terence said. "How long?"

"A month for you, Terence. Two weeks for Clank." Gary said. He held his hand out to Clank. "Car keys."

Clank pulled them from his pocket, but hesitated as he held them out. "Silvermist is upstairs." He said. "I'm gonna need to take her home eventually." He set the keys in Gary's hand.

"Why is she here?" Gary asked.

"She passed out at the party." Clank said. "I was gonna take her home, but those men showed up. I got scared. Just wanted to come here."

Gary sighed. "Right, okay. You can have your car to bring her home when she wakes up. You called her parents, right?"

"Not yet." Clank said. "She lost her phone, and mine got st… it got lost too…"

"I'll call." Terence said, excusing himself.

Gary put his hand on Clank's shoulder. "Do you need help unloading your car?"

"Huh?"

"I saw the suit cases yesterday." Gary explained.

"Why didn't you try to stop me?" Clank asked.

"I was going to come after you if you didn't come home tonight." Gary said. Clank half smiled. He figured that was the case. Gary started to lead him outside to unload. "You ever try that again you'll never get your keys back." Gary said.

Clank nodded and they started hauling his things inside and back up to his room. They were careful not to disturb Silvermist as they set everything down. Clank threw a blanket over her and laid out one of his t-shirts for her. He borrowed a pair of gym shorts from Terence for Sil to wear and left them with her as well before going back downstairs to sleep on the couch.

He lay there for hours, thinking about everything he had seen. The terrifying men, Terence's friends being carried off, the brother laughing as he was taken. He touched his lips, thinking how nice it had been kissing him. Then he remembered the look on that girl's face and smirked. He sat straight up as his mind flashed to her pinning him down.

"I brought that upon myself…" he mumbled. "Qu'est-ce que je fais maintenant maman?" He waited for her voice to answer him. He waited for anything. There was only silence that surrounded Clank until he fell asleep.

Clank woke the next morning to the smell of sausage cooking. Gary was in the kitchen making breakfast, and the smell made Clank feel sick. His emotions were still twisted up in his head. He had hoped his sleep would be dreamless, but it had been plagued with visions of those men grabbing him and dragging him off to god knows where. What made it worse was he had been with that girl in the dream as well, protecting her rather than Silvermist. And when they were carried off by the intruders they were locked away together.

Clank wanted to forget the rest. He could never remember pleasant dreams, but nightmares always stuck with him. He heaved himself off the couch and headed for the stairs. Gary greeted him as he walked past the kitchen, Clank waved in acknowledgement. He felt gross and dirty in more ways than he cared to admit and just wanted to get a shower.

He made his way upstairs and into the bathroom. He could hear Terence on the phone with someone. He was probably trying to see if anyone heard more about Tink's family. Clank hoped they were okay. He hoped by some miracle they had escaped. He knew, however, that it was hopeless.

He striped his clothes off and got in the shower. The hot water trailed down his neck and back. He washed his face, shoulders, and chest. He felt the phantom touch of _her_ hands on his chest. With a small gasp he tugged his hands away from himself. "Laisse-moi tranquille..." he muttered. He did not want her in his head right now. Or ever. He continued washing. He ran his hand over his neck and rested his fingers where she had been nipping at him.

 _I knew you wanted me._

Her condescending voice echoed in his head. He wanted to break something. He kept babbling out questions to his mother about what he should do, or how he should feel, hoping her voice would come to him again, but he only heard the girl from last night. _So much easier when you give in._

"No!" Clank shouted and punched the wall. A sob choked out of him. He had given in. He did everything she wanted. He gave her all the power she needed to destroy him. A total stranger. He was pretty sure his face wasn't just wet from the shower at this point.

He shut off the shower and went to his room to get dressed, forgetting that Silvermist was in there. Thankfully she was still asleep. Clank quickly made his way to the dresser, only to find it empty. He sighed, remembering that his clothes were in his suitcases. He unzipped one and dug through it, pulling out clean clothes.

"Clank…?" A groggy voice mumbled. He looked up from his suitcase to see Silvermist had not moved an inch, but her eyes were open, watching him.

"Hey." He said softly. "How are you?"

She groaned as she tried to sit up. "Feels like I got hit by a truck."

"You did hit the sauce pretty hard last night." Clank said, taking a seat beside her. "Do you want me to get you some aspirin?"

Silvermist leaned her head on his shoulder. "In a minute…" she grumbled. "Ugh… I feel awful."

"I'm sorry." Clank sighed.

"It's not your fault." Sil said, burying her face in his shoulder. "I'm the one who drank alcohol like it was water."

"Yea, but maybe if I had stayed with you, you wouldn't have had as much." Clank said. "Do you remember what happened?"

"Sort of." She said with a shrug. "I remember you said you were leaving."

Clank felt a pang of guilt in his heart. "I'm sorry, Silvermist."

"But you're still here." She said. "You didn't leave me."

"Well, I did. I just came back." Clank explained. "I couldn't stand the thought of you hating me. I just couldn't leave things like that. You're my best friend Sil."

"I kind of thought I was more than that." Sil sighed. "I thought when you pulled me aside you were going to ask me to be your girlfriend."

Clank swallowed hard. "You did kiss me."

"I did, didn't I?" She said. "I'm sorry, Clank." She let out an embarrassed groan.

"Hey, it's not that bad. Under other circumstances I'm sure that would have been a nice kiss."

"It's not that. When you came back, did I…" she hesitated. "Did I ask you for sex?"

Clank felt his face burn. "Yes." He said honestly.

She sat up and curled her arms around herself. "I remember standing at the punch bowl with Bobble, Tink's brother." Clank nodded. "We were both really upset. So we kept drinking punch. At some point I took my bra off and gave it to him."

"He probably wanted sex too." Clank grimaced.

"No, not Bobble. Not from me anyway." Sil said. Clank raised an eyebrow but didn't question it. "Not sure what he did with it, but he never laid a hand on me." Clank thought about how that Bobble character had his whole body coiled around her, but chose not to bring it up.

"I think I lost my panties on a dare. Or a whim. I'm not entirely sure." Sil held her head trying to remember what had transpired. "God, you must hate me now. I'm such an embarrassing mess. No wonder you wanted to leave."

"Silvermist I told you last night my wanting to leave doesn't have to do with you." Clank sighed. "I don't hate you. It was a bad night for everyone."

"Oh yeah? What was so bad for you?" Silvermist asked.

Clank stared into the corner. "I don't wanna talk about it." He mumbled.

"You never want to talk about it." Sil frowned. "You won't tell me why you moved back, you won't tell me why you're so depressed all the time, and now you won't say what made your night bad."

"Silvia, there has been a lot that happened to me, okay?" Clank huffed. "You aren't my therapist, so I really don't wanna unload my problems on you."

Silvermist tugged at her skirt, mulling that over. "Can you at least tell me one problem? Maybe I can help."

"Honestly Sil, there isn't anything more you can do." Clank said. She looked disappointed, clenching her hands in the fabric of her skirt. "But… I suppose it isn't fair that you don't know about my mom."

"Ms. Chloe?" Sil looked up at Clank. "Did something happen?"

Clank's chest and throat felt tight. He let out a shaky breath and confessed. "She died."

"No…" Sil covered her mouth in shock.

"A week before I came here, yes. My mother died. That's why I'm here." Clank said, feeling the tears well up. "I wasn't given any choice about it either."

"Clement… I… I'm so sorry. I had no idea."

Clank sniffled and wiped his eyes. "I don't really wanna talk about it, Sil."

"That's fine, that's okay. You don't have to say any more. I'm sorry I pushed it." Sil said, curling her arms around him.

"Everything has just felt awful since it happened. I wanted to stay with Lance so I could be close to people who knew me and would understand how I felt" Clank choked back a sob "but I was made to come here where nobody knows me at all."

"I know you though…" Silvermist said quietly.

"That's just it though, Sil. You don't. We were apart for ten years. You don't really know me. Not anymore. You know five year old Clement Boutin who lived next door. A fat, shy little kid who was always hiding behind his mother's leg. What do you know about me now?" Clank asked, gently. He didn't want to make her feel worse.

It didn't help. She looked like she was close to tears. "You… you like to make things… you like cheesy pop songs… you… you, um…"

"You don't know much… just like I don't really know you anymore." Silvermist was crying now. Clank hadn't meant to upset her. The ugly awful feeling in him grew. He gently laid his hand on her shoulder. "But I'd like to get to know you again."

"Aren't you going to leave?" Sil sniffled.

"No. Not yet anyway. I'm still going to be here for a while yet." Clank said with a sad smile.

Silvermist wiped her eyes and looked up at Clank. "Then I'm just going to have to convince you not to leave."

Clank pulled her into a hug and rested his chin on her head. She lazily hooked her arms over his shoulder and leaned into his chest, sighing as he rubbed her back. "Why don't I go get you that aspirin now?"

Silvermist held on tighter. "Don't go."

"I'm just going across the hall." Clank said.

"Please." She looked up at him. "Don't leave." Clank stared back down at her, she reached up and brushed her fingertips along his cheek. She leaned in close and gently brushed her lips against his. Clank's eyes fluttered shut. He leaned into her and softly kissed her back. She curled her arms around his neck to pull herself closer. Clank cupped her cheek, his heart raced as they kissed.

 _I knew you wanted me._

 _Clement Boutin! Qu'est ce que tu crois faire?_

Clank pulled back then "I can't." He breathed. "I'm sorry Sil, I can't."

She let go and shrank back. "I… I'm sorry."

"No, it's not your fault." Clank said. His chest was hurting from the guilt eating at him. "I just… I can't do this."

"Why not? You don't like me?" She asked.

"No, it's not that. I like you, Sil. I like you a lot… but after last night…"

"Oh." She stared at the floor. "I get it. I wouldn't want to be with a drunken idiot either."

"No! No, Silvermist. That's not it. That's not it at all!" Clank turned to her. "I…" he glanced down, then looked at the wall, not wanting to tell her what he had done.

"What's this?" Sil reached for his neck.

"What? What's what?" Clank looked back at her. She touched his neck. It was right where that girl had been biting him.

"Is this a hickey?" Silvermist asked. Clank grabbed her hand and pulled it away from himself. "Did I do that last night?"

Clank shook his head. "No. It wasn't you."

Silvermist stared and pulled her hand away. "Who was it?"

"I don't know." Clank answered, squeezing his eyes shut. He hoped his shame would just swallow him and he wouldn't have to tell Silvermist any more.

"You don't know?" Silvermist repeated. "You don't know who was biting your neck enough to bruise it?"

Clank curled his arms around himself. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Clank, please." Silvermist touched his cheek. "Just tell me."

"It was just some girl, okay?" Clank snapped. "I was chasing her, thinking it was you."

"So… what, when you found out it wasn't me, you just let her mark you?"

"It's not like that!" Clank shouted.

"Then what happened?" she demanded. A sob escaped Clank then. "Clank…?"

"I didn't want to…" he cried. "I told her no… I told her so many times… she wouldn't listen."

"Clank…" Silvermist breathed. "Did she…" Clank held his head in his hands, shaking as he cried. "I'm… I'm so sorry." Silvermist laid a hand on Clank's back. He flinched away from her and stood, grabbing the towel at his waist. Silvermist sat on her knees, watching him. "Do you have any idea who she was?"

"No! Of course not! I only know you and Terence! How the hell am I supposed to know who this random girl is?"

"You said you thought she was me." Silvermist said.

"Yes, that's right. She has long dark hair like you and was about your same height and build." Clank confirmed.

She sighed heavily. "I might know who it was… but this doesn't seem like something she would do." She caught Clank's questioning look. It looked desperate. "Her name is Vidia. She's a friend of mine. She has similar features to me. But I really don't think she would… I don't think she'd do something like that to a random stranger."

Clank stared at the floor. "I hope it isn't her. I'd hate for someone like that girl to be your friend."

"I think I have a picture of her." Silvermist said "where's my phone?"

"Probably still at the house. You didn't have it when we got here." Clank said.

Silvermist frowned. "Is my car still there too?"

"Yes." Clank nodded

She groaned and ran her fingers through her hair. "Well, do you have your computer? I can pull up her Facebook page."

"Yeah, its in my backpack." He said.

"Clement!" Gary's voice carried up the stairs before Clank could go for his bag.

"What?" Clank called back to him.

"I think some of your friends just showed up!" Gary yelled back.

"What…?" Clank mumbled to himself. "Hang on! I'll be down in a minute." He turned back to Silvermist "can you turn around?"

She obliged and Clank threw on his underwear and jeans and headed out of the room, pulling his t-shirt on as he headed down the stairs. The door bell rang as soon as his feet hit the ground floor. Gary went to answer, and Clank was right behind him.

"Where's Clank?" Lance said as soon as the door was open. He pushed past Gary and threw his arms around Clank. "Hey, buddy. You okay? What happened to you last night?"

"Sorry for the surprise visit, sir." Another voice said. Clank looked past Lance and Gary and saw his good friend Hunk in the doorway.

"Hey guys." Clank said, going to hug Clank as well. Gary looked extremely cross. "I had no idea they were coming, I swear."

Gary gave a heavy sigh. "It's alright Clank. But keep in mind you're still grounded."

"I know." Clank said weakly. "Can they stay though?"

"Well, they came all this way. I suppose it would be rude not to let them visit." Gary grumbled. "I'll go crack some more eggs."

"Thank you, Gary." Clank sighed. As soon as Gary walked away, Lance grabbed Clank by the arm and spoke in a hushed tone.

"I waited up all night, what happened to you?" Lance asked

"It's a really long story." Clank said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Well, tell us about it on the road. We're taking you home." Lance said.

"Lance, I can't." Clank protested.

"Why not?" Lance asked.

"Lance…" Hunk nudged him. Lance looked up just as Silvermist descended the stairs. She had changed into Clank's shirt and Terence's gym shorts.

"Oh!" A grin spread on Lance's face. He squeezed Clank's shoulders.

"Clank, where's the aspirin?" Silvermist asked groggily.

"Check the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. It's across the hall from my room." Clank said.

"Thanks." She said. "Hi Lance." She waved at him before heading back upstairs.

"So, that's why you didn't come home." Lance smirked.

"You got a new girlfriend?" Hunk said, also smiling. "You're finally over Chad?"

"What? No! I mean. Yes?" Clank pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's a _long_ story." He sighed.

"Well, I guess we have time." Hunk said. "Why don't we talk about it?"

Clank nodded. "Follow me." He led them upstairs.

Lance poked Clank in the neck when they got to his room. "Might wanna cover that up." He said.

Clank covered the hickey with his hand. He felt the shame bubble in his gut again. "Yeah… I will."

"So what happened?" Hunk asked. He sat on the floor, while Lance sat at the desk.

"Well… last night definitely made it on my top ten worst experiences ever." Clank started. He began to explain everything. He told how he had been packing all week and managed to get his keys from Gary. He said how Terence was about to rat him out and how he insisted he come to the party and tell Silvermist goodbye. He explained how his mother's voice kept ringing in his ears not to leave things like that and how he turned around. He didn't stop when Silvermist came back in the room. He didn't stop when Lance congratulated him on the kiss contest. "I wish I hadn't gotten involved" he said as he explained about trying to track down Silvermist. She stared at the floor guiltily as Clank told his friends about the girl. Hunk moved to the bed and hugged Clank tight, but Clank kept talking. He talked about how he'd found that boy Bobble with Silvermist, and the two men who broke up the party. "And then they just took Bobble and his sisters… I don't know who they were or why they took them… but…" Clank shook, trying to hold back tears.

"Oh man…" Hunk mumbled. "You gonna be okay, Clank?"

"I don't know." He choked. "I don't know what's going on or what to do."

"I'm so sorry Clank." Sil whispered. He didn't say anything in response and just leaned his head on Hunk's shoulder.

"Geez…" Lance sighed. "Haven't you been through enough without all this crap?" Clank still didn't answer while Hunk rubbed his back, trying to offer some kind of comfort. "I mean seriously! You were already grieving. You really didn't need to add kidnaping and rape to your problems."

Clank glanced up at Lance. "Hey, Lance. Maybe don't call it that…" Hunk said cautiously.

"Well that's what it was, wasn't it?" Lance argued. "He didn't want that, she forced herself on him! If I ever find out who that girl is I'll…"

"Flirt with her like you do every pretty girl you see?" Clank interrupted.

"What? No! I'll give her a piece of my mind!" Lance shouted.

"More like a piece of your ass." Clank muttered. Hunk choked down a laugh.

"I'm serious Clank! I'll do it! I'll take care of this girl for you!"

"I'm sure you will." Hunk said. "Don't worry, Clank. I'll sick Pidge on her. They won't fall for curves and a nice smile."

"Pidge already did fall for curves and a nice smile." Clank said poking Hunk in the stomach. The three boys laughed then, but Silvermist still stayed silent. She hugged her knees to her chest and stared at the floor.

"You okay Sil?" Lance asked.

"It's my fault." She murmured. "If I hadn't gotten mad... and drunk… Clank wouldn't have gotten…"

Clank pulled away from Hunk then and sat on the floor with Silvermist. "It's not your fault." He said as he pulled her into a hug. "I brought it upon myself."

"Hey!" Hunk shouted behind them. "How about you two stop blaming yourselves and admit it was that girl's fault?"

Clank bit his lip. "I think she was drunk too. She didn't know what she was doing."

"Seriously, dude?" Lance threw his hands up. "Don't make excuses for her. She took advantage of you!"

"But I don't even know her, for all I know she could…"

"I'm gonna stop you there Clank" Hunk said. "You don't know her. She didn't know you. Drunk or not, she shouldn't have forced you like that. I mean, you said Silvermist here was drunk too, and she didn't try and get into your pants."

Silvermist hid her face in her hands. Clank put a hand on her shoulder. "You stopped when I said no. It's not the same."

"Wait, really?" Lance stared. "You tried to…"

"I was drunk and stupid, okay? I made a mistake!"

"But!" Clank reminded again "she stopped. The other girl didn't. Silvermist isn't at fault here. Don't accuse her of anything."

Hunk held his hands up in defense. "Hey, I didn't say anything. Like you said, she stopped."

"Yeah," Lance nodded. "You're good Sil. Don't beat yourself up."

She sniffled and nodded. "Clank, do you still want me to pull up my friend's profile?"

"Oh, yeah." Clank said. "Lance, hand me my bag." Lance handed the backpack over and Clank pulled out his laptop and logged in. His desktop picture was of him and his mother. She looked just like him, except thin and short. He pulled up his web browser and handed the computer to Silvermist.

"Crazy about those men showing up though." Hunk said.

"You know who they sound like to me?" Lance asked

"Those two guys who have been terrorizing multiple countries for about twenty years?" Hunk asked.

"Yeah." Lance nodded. "The Junkers."

"But how the hell could it be them?" Clank asked.

"You never know, they were never caught." Hunk said.

"Yeah, but even if it were them, what he heck would they want with three kids?" Clank asked.

"This is her." Sil interrupted, handing the computer back to Clank. He practically stopped breathing. There she was, smiling on his screen. She was definitely the girl from last night. Vidia Allen. "Is she the one from last night?" Silvermist asked.

She was Silvermist's friend. Sil trusted her. Sil said this girl would never do that to a stranger. He stared at the picture. Those eyes stared at him and he could picture her on top of him, biting him, digging her nails into his skin, and refusing to stop. This was the girl. There was no doubt about it.

"No." Clank said. "That's not her."

Silvermist sighed, and Lance and Hunk exchanged a look. "Thank god." Sil sighed. "I'm glad it isn't her."

"Yeah." Clank said, staring at the picture. "Me too."

Terence knocked then and poked his head in the room. "Breakfast is getting cold, guys."

"Right, thanks Terence." Clank said. He and his friends headed downstairs to eat. Clank poked at his food, lacking an appetite. Terence sat with them, wanting to talk about the kidnaping.

"I called around this morning. Nobody's heard anything. Ms. Kettletree wouldn't answer when I tried to call her. She must be freaking out." Terence explained.

"Was there anything in the news about it?" Sil asked.

Lance was looking through his phone for any information online about it. "I don't see anything about it."

"Didn't see anything on TV last night or on the morning news." Terence said. "It's almost like it didn't happen."

The five of them sat silently, staring at their plates, none of them wanted to say it out loud. Tink and her siblings were probably dead. "Why isn't anyone reporting on this?" Clank asked. "Three kids get snatched and no one bats an eye? Not even their mother?"

"I'm sure Mary is devastated." Gary said as he passed through the kitchen. "But there's nothing we can do about it. Hopefully they'll all get away and be fine, but we can't do anything to help them now."

Clank was about to agree with him when the door bell rang. Gary disappeared to answer it and returned a moment later with Silvermist's mother.

"Mom!" Sil jumped up and hugged her mother tight.

"Oh, Silvia. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Clank was taking good care of me." Sil explained.

"Hi Mrs. Kim." Clank greeted.

"Clement," she smiled. "It's good to see you. Thank you for watching out for my Silvia."

"Sure, anytime." Clank shrugged.

Mrs. Kim turned to Silvermist again. "Your father and I already got your car." She said "Get whatever things you have here and lets go home."

"Alright." Silvermist said softly. Clank went upstairs with her to get her dress. "I'm probably going to be grounded, so I won't be able to talk to you for a while, except at school."

"It's fine. I'm grounded too." Clank sighed. "Besides, we don't have phones anymore, remember?"

Sil forced a laugh. "Yeah, true. Oh man, how am I going to explain that to my parents?"

"Just tell them it got lost inside the house." Clank shrugged.

Silvermist smiled and hugged Clank. "I hope they understand." She gave him a soft kiss on the cheek and they headed back downstairs "I'll see you at school, Clank." She waved.

"Bye Sil." The boys all said.

"So Terence." Lance said, but Clank moved to the other room.

"Maman, je ne sais pas quoi faire. Aidez-moi, s'il vous plaît." He muttered. "I wish you were here…"

Gary appeared behind him. "You alright, son?"

Clank looked over his shoulder at him. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm good. I… I was just going to call Dr. Bell." Clank lied, but now that he said it out loud, he thought he really would like to talk to his therapist. "Can I borrow your phone, Gary?"

Gary nodded. "Of course." He handed Clank the phone, and Clank dialed the office.

He went back to the table with his friends a moment later and Lance pat him on the shoulder. "Where'd you disappear to?"

"I was just making a call." Clank said. "I have an appointment later today. You guys mind if I disappear for a while?" He was pretty surprised he could make a last minute appointment on a Friday afternoon, but was glad he could be penciled in.

Hunk shrugged. "Sure man,"

"What's the appointment for?" Lance asked.

Clank sighed. "I'm going to go talk to Dr. Bell." He noticed Terence look up at the name 'Bell' most likely thinking of Tink. "I…" he trailed off.

"We got ya, Clank." Lance nodded.

"We'll find something to do in the meantime." Hunk gave him an encouraging smile.

Clank gave a halfhearted smile. "Great." He cleared his plate, though he barely had touched his food. _Je vais comprendre cela maman._

Later when he sat across from Dr. Bell, the therapist spoke to him calmly. "I was surprised you called, Clement. Is everything alright?"

"Not really." Clank sighed. "A lot happened last night that… I don't wanna talk about that yet. I wanna talk about my mom."

Dr. Bell adjusted his glasses and gave Clank his full attention. "Go ahead, Clement. I'm listening."


	8. Memory

**Note: The majority of this chapter is a flashback. Any words in Italics are meant to be French. That said, enjoy Clank's backstory.**

* * *

Chloe and Clement Boutin were as close as any mother and son could be. They moved to a new town when Clement was only five, but it was a welcome change for the both of them. She had better work now and could better afford to raise her son on her own. She was so happy to see her boy come out of his shell the longer they lived here.

It started with the babysitter. A high school student who lived down the street took to watching Clement after school while Chloe worked. His name was Takashi Shirogane. He was ten years older than Clement, but he would play with him until Chloe could pick him up.

It didn't take long for the kids to befriend her boy. The first was a boy named Lance. They met at school when Clement started Kindergarten. Lance was in second grade and was so energetic and kind. Clement took a liking to him quickly and they would play together all the time in Takashi's back yard.

Next came a boy who everyone called Hunk. He was Lance's age, but built a lot like Clement. They were both shy of each other at first, but they both liked to build things and they both loved food. The three boys grew close, despite Clement being younger which helped Chloe's son grow more confident and social.

When Clement was in first grade he met a girl named Katie. She was in kindergarten then and was quiet like Clement had been. She always sat by herself at lunch, so Clement would leave his classmates and sit with her instead. Soon Lance and Hunk joined them and they all grew to be close friends.

Chloe made sure that her son got to play with his friends as often as possible. Takashi would often come over to help with the kids and took a liking to the whole group. Just before Clement started second grade she began planning a party for his eighth birthday. They planned for Katie, Lance and Hunk to come over for the day. Takashi even said he'd come for a little while, despite how much younger everyone was. Two weeks before, Chloe took Clement out shopping, and before they went home she promised him she would get him a treat.

They found a little bakery called Sirona where Chloe bought her son a slice of strawberry cake and herself a slice of peanut butter pie. " _Mama, I'll share my cake for a bite of the pie._ " Clement said cheerfully.

Chloe smiled brightly and divided her piece in half. " _Of course Clankie, anything for you._ " She gave him half of her slice and he divided his cake in two pieces, one that was a bit bigger than the other. He gave the bigger piece to his mother. She smiled and switched the pieces when her son wasn't looking. The look her son got on his face when he took a bite lit up her world. He looked happier than any time she could recall.

" _Mama! Try the cake! It's so delicious!_ " he cried as he took another bite. Chloe did so, and was astounded at how rich the flavor was. It was probably the best cake she had ever tried.

" _It's wonderful."_ Chloe said and took another bite.

" _Try the pie Mama!"_ Clement said happily. He already had a spot of peanut butter filling on his cheek. Chloe laughed and took a bite of the pie. It was smooth, creamy and full of flavor like the cake.

"Wow! _This is delicious._ " Chloe said. Clement was digging in to both pieces, getting crumbs all over his face. He looked so pleased with himself. "Clankie." Chloe smiled at him. He looked up, his eyes wide and shining.

"Oh... _Am I making a mess?_ " he asked.

Chloe laughed. "Oui, _You're making a big mess._ " Clement quickly grabbed his napkin and started wiping his face clean. Chloe laughed again and shook her head. " _I was going to ask if you wanted to get a cake for your birthday._ "

" _From here?_ " Clement asked.

"Oui." Chloe nodded.

"Oui! Oui mama!" he cheered as he hopped up from his seat to hug her tight. She squeezed him back and told him to finish his treat.

They spent a good thirty minutes looking at cakes in the window and Chloe told her son what all the different flavors were. " _What kind do you want?_ " she asked. Clement stared hard at the choices.

" _I want that white one._ " He said poking at the glass.

"Coconut _? Are you sure?_ " Chloe asked. Clement nodded, so Chloe turned to the girl at the counter. "Excuse me. We'd like to order a Coconut cake. The girl glanced down at Clement for a moment and smiled.

"Is it for a special occasion?" The girl asked.

"It's my birthday!" Clement cheered.

"Well happy birthday," The girl said.

"His birthday is on the 29th. Will it be ready by then?" Chloe asked.

"We can have it ready to pick up on the 28th." The girl said, then she turned to Clement. "How old are you gonna be?"

"Eight!" Clement shouted.

"Oh, that's a good age. Do you want anything special written on your cake?" the girl asked.

"Can it say 'Dinosaurs are awesome'?" Clement asked.

The girl laughed. "It can, but what if it said 'Happy Birthday' instead?"

Chloe covered up her laugh as Clement thought about it. "That's even better! Can it have my name on it?"

"Of course, what's your name little guy?"

"Clank!" he said.

The girl was clearly surprised by his answer. "Clank?"

"Uh huh!"

She shrugged. "Okay. Can you spell that for me?"

"C-L-A-N-K" Clement said confidently.

"Okay," The girl smiled and wrote it down. "C-L-A-N-K. Clank!"

"Yay!" Clement bounced on his heels as the girl showed him what she'd put on her note pad.

"We'll make it real special for you, Clank." The girl said before turning to Chloe to complete the order.

People always were curious about Clement's nickname. Strangers always were taken aback when Clement introduced himself as Clank. He never knew where the name came from. Everyone always just called him that. Even before he moved his dad called him Clank. The neighbor girl always called him Clank. It was just who he was. Clank Boutin. His friends never questioned him where the name came from, but that was the funny thing about kids. They pretty much accepted everything at face value.

Chloe was never bothered by people thinking the name was strange. All that mattered to her was that her little Clankie was happy and healthy, and he certainly seemed happy now as they were driving home from Sirona.

" _Have you thought about what you and your friends are going to do for your birthday?_ " Chloe asked.

" _We're gonna play tag, and have squirt guns, and have a dance party!_ " Clank said. " _Can you help me pick music?"_

" _Of course, Clankie. Anything for you._ "

The party was small, just as planned. The kids all ran around the back yard in swim suits, enjoying the late summer afternoon by attacking each other with water guns. Lance was very enthusiastic with the squirt guns and managed to shoot everyone in the ear at least once. The water gun fight ended with Lance getting tackled by Clank, Hunk and Katie who proceeded to pull the tanks off their guns and pour them on Lance.

Takashi was inside with Chloe, getting the music set up while Chloe set up the table with the cake. "When are you leaving for college?" Chloe asked him.

"A week from tomorrow." Takashi said. "You guys going to miss me?"

"Very much." Chloe nodded. "You've really helped Clank open up."

"I think that was more Lance's doing than my own." Takashi said. He came to help her set the table and got a look at the cake and laughed. "Was that his idea?"

Chloe smiled and covered up a laugh. "Yes." They set the cake out and went to join the kids outside before they pulled Lance's arms off. The cake read "Happy Birthday Clank" and right underneath it said "Dinosaurs are awesome"

The kids all came inside to get dressed and have cake. Clank and Hunk had seconds on cake, while Lance took to roaring at Katie like a dinosaur. Takashi noted how sweet the cake was and asked where they found it.

"Come dance with me, Shiro!" Clank yelled and grabbed Takashi by his hand and dragged him to the living room. The little group moved to the living room. Dancing didn't last long and it turned more into the kids making up a story about fighting space aliens, which was a fun little show for Takashi and Chloe.

Clank was exhausted by the end of the time his friends went home. Chloe ruffled his hair. " _I hope you saved a dance for me._ " She said. Clank nodded, and Chloe picked him up and swayed back and forth with him. No music was playing.

" _I love you, mama._ " Clank said into her shoulder.

" _I love you too._ "

Chloe was exhausted when she put Clank to bed. She'd never felt this tired before and chocked it up to corralling four little kids all day.

When Clank was eleven Hunk brought a new boy over to his house. His name was Keith, he was the same age as Hunk and Lance. Lance didn't take too kindly to Keith and acted bitter towards him. Katie and Clank liked him however. He was awkward and didn't really know how to be social with the others, but he was always welcome to sit with them at lunch.

Keith invited them all to his fourteenth birthday. He was the oldest of their group now. Clank and Hunk baked him cupcakes while Katie brought him a board game. Lance didn't have anything to give him so when it came time to give Keith gifts, Lance grabbed him and kissed him on the mouth.

Chloe and the other parents stared while Hunk let out a nervous chuckle. Clank and Katie both said "ew."

"What was that?" Keith asked, red as a cherry.

Lance was just as red as him. He cleared his throat. "That's your Lance McLain birthday kiss. Patent pending."

Keith wasn't sure what to say. "Um… thanks…" his cheeks burned even more.

"I think you're embarrassing him." Clank said.

Lance slammed a hand on the table. "That's right!" He yelled with mock confidence "if you're not super embarrassed then it's not a true Lance McLain birthday kiss!"

Keith stared. Then he started laughing. "Thanks Lance" he said again, still laughing. Lance crossed his arms and smiled proudly.

From then on, Lance started doing that for everyone's birthday. The redder his friends got the more fun he had. When Lance's birthday came around everyone agreed they would get him back with embarrassing displays of affection of their own. Lance ended up in the corner by the end of the day, unable to look anyone in the eye.

Clank didn't seemed too bothered by showing affection to Lance. He wasn't embarrassed too long when Lance had given him his birthday kiss either. It made Chloe curious. One day when Clank was twelve, he and his mother were eating supper and her curiosity got the better of her.

" _You and Lance seem to be really close._ " Chloe said.

Clank looked up from his food. "Oui." He nodded.

" _I was just wondering how close you two are."_ Chloe shrugged.

" _We aren't dating if that's what you're wondering."_ Clank said.

" _Good. You're not allowed to date til you're forty anyway."_ Chloe smirked. Clank grimaced at her. " _Would you want to date him?_ "

Clank shrugged. " _I don't know. Maybe. But Lance likes Keith. We all know that."_ Clank stared at his plate. Chloe could tell he was embarrassed, but she wanted him to know he could talk to her about anything.

" _Is there anyone you are interested in?_ "

" _Mom, I'm twelve._ " Clank said.

" _I had my first crush when I was ten._ " Chloe said gently. " _It wouldn't be too strange if you liked someone._ " Clank fidgeted and muttered something to himself. " _Speak up, Clankie._ "

" _I want to sign up for dance lessons._ " Clank said.

Chloe blinked. That wasn't what she was expecting. "Bien."

Clank chewed his thumb nail and continued. " _I got a paper about it at school. And I saw a flier on the bulletin board about it too_."

Chloe smiled " _I already said it was okay, Clankie. Why do you keep explaining?_ "

Clank swallowed and clenched his fists. " _I saw a cute boy sign up for lessons yesterday._ "

"Oh." Her smile faltered. " _Do you only want to take the class because of him?_ "

"Non!" Clank said. " _I want to dance! It's just…"_ he trailed off and stared out the window.

" _What's wrong sweetheart?"_ Chloe asked gently.

" _What if I'm not good at it and he laughs at me?_ " Clank said shakily.

" _The boy?"_

" _Of course the boy!"_ Clank said frantically. " _What if I go to the class and I'm terrible? What if I embarrass myself and he thinks I'm just a fat, clumsy fool?"_

Chloe laughed and went to hug her son. "Clement Garret Boutin, _you have nothing to be worried about. You never give up on anything you want to do. I don't see how dancing would be any different._ "

" _I don't want to be laughed at._ " Clank sniffled.

" _What if he's bad? Will you laugh at him?"_ Chloe asked.

Clank shook his head. "Non."

" _Why not?"_

" _It's mean!"_ Clank yelled. " _And he'd just be learning. It's not nice to laugh at someone for trying something new."_

Chloe ruffled his hair. _"And that is why you have nothing to worry about either. If anyone laughs at you, make sure you step on all their toes."_

 _"_ Moooooom." Clank laughed into her shoulder.

" _You could get away with it. Just claim it was an accident._ " Clank laughed harder. " _So, should I sign you up for lessons?"_

 _"_ Oui." Clank chuckled.

Clank started lessons two weeks later. Chloe sat with him in the studio constantly asking if any of the boys who came in were the boy Clank thought was cute. He constantly told her no until a boy with clean cut brown hair came in with his mother. Before Chloe could ask, Clank started blushing.

Chloe nudged him. _"Go introduce yourself."_ She whispered.

Clank nodded and approached the boy. "Bonjour, je m'appelle Clément. Comment vous appelez-vous?"

"What?" The boy looked strangely at him.

Clank swallowed hard and tried to speak again, and again the boy just stared at him.

"You're speaking French, Clank." Chloe said behind him. Clank blushed harder and turned away from the boy. "Come on, say hello." Clank shook his head and went back to where he had been waiting for class.

" _I've already made a fool of myself."_ Clank muttered when Chloe sat beside him.

" _You did not."_ Chloe sighed. " _He just didn't understand you."_

 _"_ _Why didn't I speak English?"_ Clank muttered.

"Hi." Chloe and Clank both turned to see the boy had come over to them. "Clank, right? I'm Chad."

"Chad…" Clank repeated.

"We go to the same school, right?" Chad asked. Clank nodded. "I thought you looked familiar." Clank nodded again. "Can you understand me?"

"Yes." Clank said meekly.

"Cool. So have you taken dance classes before?"

Clank shook his head.

"I took a few when I was younger. But not ballroom dancing. I'm probably going to mess up a lot." Chad laughed. "Try not to laugh too much when my partner and I trip, okay?"

Clank smiled and nodded. The instructor called for the kids to come into the studio and Clank followed Chad inside. Chloe watched from the window as the two boys were paired up with a couple of young girls. They were both terrible at dancing, but their smiles never once left their faces.

Chad became a regular face around the Boutin house. He was around more often than Clank's other friends. He and Clank practiced the different dances together and Chad actually taught Clank what he had learned in his classes years ago. Chad played a lot of pop music, and he and Clank would make videos of themselves dancing. Chad wants to post them online, but Clank was reluctant to do so, saying he wasn't a good dancer yet.

"But this way we can document your improvement." Chad said, posting the videos anyway. "Don't you wanna show off how that body of yours moves?"

Chloe never liked when Chad commented on Clank's body. It didn't matter what he said, Clank always got upset and embarrassed. She sat down with him once when Chad had just gone home to talk to him about it. " _Do his comments bother you?"_

Clank nodded. " _I don't want people looking at my body mom. I'm too fat and ugly._ "

Chloe's heart broke hearing that. Clank was way too young to think that about himself. " _Clankie. You are not too fat. And you by no means are ugly. I bet none of your other friends think you are either. If you ever think you are anything less than handsome, I want you to look in a mirror and tell yourself that you are the most gorgeous boy to ever walk the city streets."_

 _"_ _Mom!"_ Clank blushed.

" _I'm right, aren't I?"_ All Clank could do was nod. " _You are my handsome son and I love you very much."_

 _"_ _I love you too, mom."_

On Clank's thirteenth birthday, all of Clank's friends went out for pizza together. Takashi was in town with his girlfriend Allura, and they joined the group as well. Chad refused to let anyone but himself sit next to Clank. Lance and the others didn't really care for Chad, but never said anything since Clank really seemed to like him.

In the middle of eating Lance slipped from his seat while Clank and Chad were talking and crept up behind Clank. Chloe watched with a sly smile as Lance grabbed Clank from behind and kiss him. Clank laughed when Lance pulled back, but Chad looked furious. He got up and began yelling at Lance.

"Why did you do that?" Chad demanded.

"I do it every year." Lance said.

"Well don't!"

"I have to!" Lance yelled. "It's tradition!"

"I don't care!" Chad yelled back, "Clank is _my_ boyfriend and I don't want you kissing him!"

No one spoke a word then. Everyone stared at Chad, then Clank. Chad glared at Clank then. "Has he done this before?"

Clank just nodded.

"Chad, sweetie, I think we should go." Chad's mother said. Clank watched sadly as Chad left with his mom.

At the end of the party he rode home with his mom, thinking about what had happened. "He called me his boyfriend." Clank mumbled.

"Are you?" Chloe asked.

"I dunno." Clank said. "I didn't think so. I mean, he never asked me out or anything."

"Then you aren't his boyfriend." Chloe said.

"But what if I wanna be?" Clank asked. The look on Chloe's face told him she wasn't a fan of the idea, but he really liked Chad, even though he was a little possessive. He decided he would call him later and ask.

After that day, they became official. None of Clank's friends were happy about it, but they still tried to spend as much time with Clank as possible when Chad wasn't around.

A month after Clank's birthday, Katie came out as non-binary and asked to be called Pidge. Everyone was doing their best to call them by their preferred name, but Chad seemed to slip up more than the rest of them. Pidge tended to leave their lunch table when Chad sat with them.

Chad came over almost every day and they would make dance videos. Clank had gotten a lot better and a lot more confident in his dancing. Chloe figured that was at least one plus side of the boy being around, but she still didn't like how he pushed her son's other friends away.

Clank knew. He knew even though nobody said it. They did not like Chad. He tried to convince others that Chad was a good boyfriend, but he still knew that no matter what he said, they were not going to like Chad.

He thought about it in the middle of the night and how he could convince his friends to like his boyfriend. He was pulled from his thoughts by the sound of breaking glass. He jumped from his bed and went to find the source of the noise.

"Clement!" He heard his mother's harsh whisper down the hall. " _Clement, come here._ " He hurried to her and she pulled him into her bedroom. " _Quickly, in the closet._ " He obeyed and hurried to her closet and hid inside.

" _Mom, what's going on?_ " He asked.

Chloe knelt down in front of her safe and quickly opened it. " _Someone has broken in. Stay here and call the police."_

" _What are you going to do?"_ Clank asked. _"Is that a gun?"_ He could feel the panic rise in his chest. " _Mom, no!"_

" _Stay hidden, stay safe."_ She said and closed the closet behind her. Clank's heart pounded and he pulled his cell phone from his sweat pants and dialed 911.

He managed to calm himself down enough to speak English to the woman on the line. "I think someone broke into my house." He was in the middle of telling her that his mom left him in the closet when he heard a gunshot. He screamed, terrified. His eyes watering.

"Are you okay?" The woman on the line asked. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine…" his voice shook. Another gun shot. He shouted again.

"What's happening?" The operator asked.

"Gunshots. Two of them. Please. My mom!" Clank sobbed.

"Try to remain calm, help is on the way."

"Please…" Clank cried. " _I'm scared"_

 _"_ Stay on the line with me, you'll be okay."

 _"_ _Please, please, they're gonna kill her. Please"_ Clank muttered.

The operator tried keep Clank calm, but his breath was heavy.

"Clement?" Chloe's voice rang out.

"Mom?" Clank lifted his head.

"Is your mother alright?" The operator asked.

The closet door swung open and Chloe collapsed by Clank and hugged him tight. " _You're safe."_

 _"_ _I was so scared, what happened?"_ Clank asked.

Chloe didn't answer and instead took his phone. "Hello, is this 911?"

Clank saw the blood stain on her shirt and gasped.

Hours later in the hospital, Clank was in a panic while his mother was in surgery. He called Chad, but got no answer. He called Keith next and he showed up to wait with him soon after.

"She going to be okay?" Keith asked.

"I hope so." Clank breathed. "It was terrifying, Keith."

"What happened to the intruder?" Keith asked.

"Not sure. Mom said he ran off after she shot back." Clank said, still shaking.

"Did she hit him?" Keith asked.

"Dunno. I just know that she got hit." He swallowed hard. "Keith, I'm scared…"

Keith had never been the emotional type, but he leaned over and hugged Clank who started sobbing into his shoulder.

"It's gonna be okay, Clement." Keith said.

Hours later, Clank was able to see his mom. She'd been shot in the shoulder, but the bullet had been removed and she'd been stitched up. Clank curled his arms around her and refused to let go for several hours, spending the night in the hospital bed with her.

Clank missed school the next day. He didn't want to leave Chloe's side. He was so scared of what had happened. Pidge brought him his school work and sat with them for a while before heading out. Clank was sitting at the foot of Chloe's bed doing his homework while nurses brought in dinner for them.

"We're going to do another scan before we release you Ms. Boutin." The doctor told her.

"Thank you." Chloe said. Clank glanced at her.

" _Is everything okay?_ " Clank asked after the doctor left.

" _Yes, Clankie, they just want to make sure everything's okay before we go home._ " Chloe said. Clank noticed her smile didn't quite reach her eyes. Before Clank could ask what was wrong, Chad called.

"Where the hell were you today?" Chad asked.

Clank explained about the break in and Chad said. "Oh… that sucks. You gonna be back tomorrow?"

Clank's brow furrowed. "Probably."

"Good. Later then." Chad said and that was it.

Chloe got to go home the next morning and Clank went back to school. He was about to confront Chad about how cold he was, but Chad had a surprise for him.

"I figured you wouldn't want to talk about this last night with what happened. But I wrote out a dance for us. I thought we could record it this weekend." Chad said flipping through his notebook. "You've been getting really good. I bet we could get a lot of viewers if we started making dance videos together."

"Oh…" Clank said, unsure if he really wanted to do that. "Sure, I guess."

"Cool. So I'll come over Saturday." Chad said

"Sure." Clank said again.

He tried the dance with Chad. It was fun, and he believed he was enjoying himself. While the two of them were watching one of their shoots Chloe got off the phone and looked at Chad.

"I need to speak to Clement, I'm sorry Chad, but I've called your mother to come pick you up." Chloe said.

"What why?" Chad asked, clearly irritated.

"I need to talk to Clement." She said again. "Your mom will be here soon."

Chad and Clank sat on the porch out front. "Your mom doesn't like me." Chad said.

"That's not true!" Clank said. "She likes you. She's glad you make me happy."

"Then why is she kicking me out?" Chad asked.

Clank fell silent. "I… I dunno."

Chad crossed his arms "Well, you should just come to my house. I'm sure my mom won't mind."

"But my mom wants to talk to me." Clank said.

"But you wanna hang out with me, right?" Chad asked.

"Well, yeah, but…" Chad cut Clank off by kissing him.

"Cool, so you should go tell your mom you're coming with me." Chad said.

Clank swallowed. "I guess I could ask."

"Don't ask, just tell her." Chad said. He stood up. "There's my mom. Go tell her now." Chad headed to the car and Clank swallowed and went back inside to tell Chloe he was going to Chad's house.

" _Is Chad's mother here?"_ Chloe asked

"Oui." Clank said. " _Can I go to Chad's house?_ "

Chloe turned sour then " _Clement, I need to talk to you. You're not going to your boyfriend's house."_

" _But mom, I"_

 _"_ _Clement!"_ she snapped. Clank heard the car out front drive away and he was about to yell back about not being able to go. " _I need to tell you something."_

 _"_ _What is it?"_ Clank asked.

" _Come sit down, Clankie._ " Chloe said, sitting herself on the couch and patting next to her.

Clank quickly calmed down and sat down with her. " _What's going on?_ " he asked.

" _Clankie, there's no easy way to tell you this."_ Chloe said with a sigh.

" _What's wrong?"_

 _"_ _While we were in the hospital, the doctors found a mass in my chest."_ Chloe said.

" _…_ _what?"_ Clank lost his breath immediately.

" _I got a call and it's malignant."_ Chloe said.

" _Mom, this isn't funny."_ Clank said quietly.

" _I'm not joking, Clank._ " Chloe said. " _I've got cancer. They say I can start treatments for it, but things are going to be hard for a while."_

Clank was shaking, he was crying silently while Chloe said these things. " _Are you going to be okay?_ " he asked.

" _I'm not going to let cancer kill me, Clement. It's going to be a lot harder than that to get rid of me."_ She said with a smile. Clank hugged her tight.

" _I love you mom._ "

" _It's going to be alright, Clankie."_ She said.

Clank did what he could to take care of Chloe during her treatments. He knew she was going to start losing her hair soon, so he took a picture of them together while she was still healthy. He also decided he was going to grow his hair out to donate. His friends told him that was a great idea, and Lance told Keith maybe he should do the same since his hair was long anyway. That earned him a shove.

Chloe was getting weaker, and Clanks friends were doing their best to help out. Chloe had to stay at the hospital a few times, and one of them would usually stay with Clank when she did. They did their best to keep his mind off of Chloe's condition in her absence, or would help him come up with something to cheer her up when she came home.

She'd been in treatment for about seven months when Clank's fourteenth birthday came around. They had a quiet get together at his house with just movies and snacks.

"Hey." Chad said with his arms around Clank. "I've got a present for you."

"What is it?" Clank asked in the middle of the desolation of Smaug.

"I'll show you after the movie." He said quietly. When the movie was over Chad set up his camera and handed a paper to Clank.

"Is this…?" Clank asked

"Think you can follow the steps?" Chad asked.

"Yeah, of course." Clank said.

"Can you lead?" Chad asked.

"Yes." Clank said.

"Good. Ms. Chloe, I wrote a dance for you and Clank." Chad said. Chloe, surprised came to look at what he'd written. Chad turned on some music and sat between Hunk and Pidge and pointed his camera at Clank and Chloe.

" _Will you dance with me, mom?_ " Clank asked.

"Oui." Chloe said.

It was a simple waltz to a soft French song. Clank led Chloe through it carefully. He didn't follow the steps Chad had given him but decided he'd rather lead his mother how he wanted to. He smiled down at her. He had no idea when he'd outgrown her, but he was significantly taller than her now. Chloe smiled at Clank when the song ended and thanked him before he helped her sit back down to rest.

Chad stayed over that night and transferred his video of the dance to Clank's computer. "You didn't do my dance." He pointed out.

"I'm sorry." Clank said. "I just did what felt right."

Chad sighed. "That's fine. I guess that's how dancing should be."

"You're not too mad, are you?" Clank asked.

"Nope. We're all good here." Chad said. Clank wasn't sure he believed him. "I've got another present for you."

"Yeah?" Clank grinned. "What is it?" Chad grinned and climbed onto Clank's bed with him and crawled over him. "What are you doing?"

Chad grinned down at him and pressed his lips to Clank's "Thought we could have a little fun tonight."

Clank inhaled sharply as Chad kissed him again. "Fun?" he said, pushing Chad back.

"Yeah. Fool around a bit, you know?" Chad smirked.

Clank felt his face turn hot. He swallowed. "Yeah, okay." Chad grinned and kissed him hard and pressed his body against Clank's. Clank shuttered and ran his hands up Chad's sides. Chad sat up and pulled his shirt off and stared down at Clank.

"Take yours off too." He said. Clank averted his eyes. "C'mon. Take it off."

"I'm… I don't want to." Clank admitted.

"Come on, Clank. I took my shirt off. You can take yours off too." Chad said.

"I don't want to!" Clank said again.

"Fine. Fine, whatever." Chad said, annoyed. He rolled his hips forward and pressed himself against Clank's groin. Clank groaned and Chad grabbed his boxers and tugged at them.

"Wait!" Clank gasped.

"What?" Chad looked up at him.

"I…" Clank bit his lip.

"C'mon, don't be shy." Chad said. "This is normal boyfriend stuff, isn't it?"

Clank took a couple deep breaths. "I guess so."

"Then let's get naked." Chad said, his voice low. "I wanna touch every inch of you."

"Clank?" Chloe's voice rang from outside the door. She sounded exhausted. "Is everything okay in there?"

Clank pushed Chad off of him and sat up as Chloe opened the door. "Everything's fine Mom." He said. "You okay?"

"I'm feeling pretty queasy." She said. "I'm probably going to go back to the doctor tomorrow."

"Okay." Clank said "You need me to do anything for you?"

"No, it's alright. But why don't you see if you can spend the day with one of your friends tomorrow?" Chloe asked.

Chad sat up, he'd pulled his shirt back on then. "He can stay with me." He said.

"Thank you, Chad." She said. "Oh, and Clankie. _Don't let him talk you into sex. You're too young to be in that kind of relationship."_

Clank nodded. " _Okay mom."_

Chloe left and Chad wrapped his arms around Clank's neck. "Shall we continue?"

"I shouldn't." Clank said. "I'm actually pretty tired. Can we just go to sleep?"

Chad grimaced. "Fine. Whatever." He rolled over and didn't speak to Clank for the rest of the night.

Clank's hair was pretty long midway through his freshman year. He had joined the football team and kept his hair tied back to keep it out of the way. He wasn't a fantastic player, but did enjoy the exercise. Keith Lance and Hunk had been driving for about a year then and were able to take Clank to school. One day when Hunk was at his house, they had a bit of a scare.

They were in the kitchen trying a new macaroni recipe and they heard a thud in the living room and a moment later, Chloe called out for help. Both boys were in a pretty big panic as they got Chloe into Hunk's car and drove her to the hospital. Chloe was having a bad reaction to her medicine and ended up in the hospital for three days. Clank stayed with her in the evening. Hunk stayed the first day, Lance and Pidge the second and Keith the third.

It seemed like things were just getting worse every time Clank blinked. Chad was getting more persistent about wanting to take their relationship to the next step, and Clank was not ready to do that. He managed to talk his way out of it every time. Pidge was getting rather fed up with their relationship and was telling Clank he needed to end it every chance they got, but Chad stuck to Clank for the whole school year.

Clank finally got some good news about a week after freshman year. He was sitting in the hospital with Chloe, building a tower out of wooden sticks when the doctor came in.

"I've got some great news for you, Ms. Boutin. Your latest scans show that the mass in your chest is gone, and the cancer is in remission." The doctor said.

"That's great!" Chloe said.

Clank was overjoyed. He hugged his mom as tight as he could without hurting her. " _I'm so glad you're okay!"_ he said.

" _Why don't you call your friends and tell them?_ " Chloe said. Clank nodded.

"You're still going to be weak for a while yet and your immune system's very weak right now, so…"

Clank didn't stay to hear the rest and immediately went out to call Chad. "Chad!" he said when his boyfriend answered. "Chad, my mom's cancer is gone!"

"Alright!" Chad said. "This calls for celebration. You wanna come over tonight?"

"Not tonight," Clank said. "Soon though, okay?"

He could practically hear Chad's grin through the phone and realized he may have mistook what Clank wanted. "Cool, I'll see you later then." And he hung up before Clank could say more.

When Clank had finished calling his friends he went back in to see Chloe. She was sitting up in bed. She still looked weak, and her hair had thinned but Clank thought she had never looked more alive than she did now. He sat by her and held up his camera. " _Smile!"_

Chloe would be coming home from the hospital in a couple days. Clank was at home, cleaning and getting everything ready for her. He ordered a cake from Sirona and asked Hunk to pick it up for him. While he was checking the fridge, making sure he had everything to cook Chloe's favorite meal, Chad let himself in the house.

"Hey there handsome." Chad said, wrapping his arms around Clank's waist.

"Hi." Clank said, leaning back to kiss his cheek.

"Thought you could use some help cleaning up around here." Chad said.

"Aw, thanks Chad." Clank said. "I'm gonna go vacuum the living room, you mind sweeping the floor in here?"

"Sure." Chad said. He gave Clank's butt a squeeze before he let go of him. Clank felt his face heat up and went to go vacuum. He pretended not to notice when Chad came in a few minutes later and watched him work. When he put the vacuum away, he picked up his freshly done laundry.

"I'm gonna put this away, I'll be back in a minute and we can go do something." Clank said and headed up the stairs.

He was nearly done filling his drawers when his bedroom door closed. He looked behind him and Chad was approaching him with a soft grin. "Why should we _go_ and do something when we can _stay_ and do something instead?"

"Chad…" Clank breathed.

Chad took Clank's hand and led him to the bed. "We never go around to celebrating." Chad said. He brushed his lips against Clank's being soft and gentle. Clank held his hips and let things unfold. He still wasn't sure he was ready to do this, but figured Chad was worth it. He felt so vulnerable when Chad had him stripped down to his underwear and laying on his back. Chad had his hands all over him, kissing every inch of bare skin. Clank let his eyes wander over Chad's naked body. He was strong and beautiful and not afraid to show off his junk to Clank.

"Been waiting for this for so long." Chad said. "You're not gonna be able to sit down by the time I'm done with you." He grabbed Clank's underwear and began tugging them down. Clank's phone started ringing.

"Wait!" Clank breathed.

"Let it go to voicemail." Chad said.

Clank recognized the number. "It's the hospital, Chad! Just wait a second!" he answered the call. "Hello?"

"Mr. Boutin? This is Doctor Stromwell…"

Clank held his breath as the doctor talked to him. He was already pulling his clothes back on while he spoke, giving no explanation to a very confused and clearly angry Chad. When he hung up, Chad crossed his arms and glared at him.

"Let me guess. Your mom again?"

"Yeah." Clank said. "The doctor said…"

"Said what? More cancer they missed? Whatever it's not like it's going to kill her right away." Chad said bitterly.

"Chad!"

"You do this every time!" Chad said. "Every time I wanna fuck you, you come up with some excuse not to!"

"Chad, this is serious! My mom's sick!" Clank said.

"What's ten minutes gonna hurt?" Chad yelled.

"I don't want to have sex!" Clank yelled. "I've never wanted to! I'm not ready for it and you keep pushing me! I've got more important things on my mind Chad!"

"More important than your boyfriend?" Chad asked.

"Well maybe I don't want you to _be_ my boyfriend!" Clank snapped.

They fell silent for a moment "Well there it is."

"I didn't mean it…"

"We both know you did." Chad spat. "Fine. If you wanna be a momma's boy and run to her every time you're scared of commitment be my guest. I'm sick of this shit anyway."

"Chad it's not like that!" Clank yelled.

"I am so sick of her taking priority over me!" Chad yelled.

"She's _sick_ Chad!"

"I don't care!" Chad yelled as he threw his clothes on. "I'm out of here. Good luck alone you fat bastard." Chad stormed out of the room and Clank hurried after him.

"Wait! Chad Wait!" Clank called.

Chad shoved him back. "Get out of my face!" he yelled left the house and rode off on his bike. Clank felt like he was about to cry. He clutched his phone in his hand and after a moment he called Shiro.

Clank sat in the hospital with Chloe an hour later. She was running a fever and coughing up a lung every so often. Shiro had driven him to the hospital and called the rest of Clank's friends who took turns coming in to see Chloe. But now Clank sat with her alone.

" _You'll be alright, right mom?_ " Clank said quietly, not sure if he believed himself.

Chloe laughed. It sounded weak and airy. " _Of course, Clankie…"_ she said weakly. " _It's going to take more than a little fever to kill me… are you alright?"_

 _"_ _I'm fine…"_ Clank said. " _I'm mostly worried about you._ "

" _Where's your boyfriend?_ " Chloe asked.

Clank swallowed. " _We broke up today._ "

Chloe frowned. " _I'll kick his ass for breaking your heart._ "

" _I think Pidge has that covered._ " Clank said with a smile. " _But thanks._ "

" _I love you, Clankie. I swear as soon as I'm out of this hospital I'll castrate that boy and we'll find you someone a thousand times better than him._ " Chloe said.

Clank chuckled and wiped his eyes. " _Thanks mom. But lets wait for you to get well._ "

Clank spent the next few days at the hospital with Chloe. The doctors were doing the best they could to bring her fever down, but she was getting weaker by the day more than once she had gone in to cardiac arrest, but the doctors managed to bring her back. Clank was terrified, but refused to voice his fears to his mother. He had to stay strong for her.

His sixteenth birthday was just around the corner and Clank sat by her hospital bed, holding her hand after the doctors had turned out the lights for the night. Chloe was still awake, looking terrible and weak.

" _I saw Lance today…_ " Chloe said.

" _Yeah? I didn't know he came by._ " Clank said.

" _He was here while you were getting lunch._ " Chloe explained. _"I wasn't able to go birthday shopping for you… So I gave him some money to get you a birthday present."_

 _"_ _You didn't have to do that._ " Clank said. " _We can do my birthday after you get better…"_ he nearly choked on the words, trying to hold back tears. Chloe had been fighting for so long, he couldn't bear to think of her losing now that her cancer was finally gone.

Chloe laughed airily. " _We can."_ She said. " _I just wanted to be sure you got something on the actual day. But I'm going to spoil what it is."_

 _"_ _Don't do that, mom. I want to be surprised."_ Clank said.

" _Sorry, I'm telling you anyway."_ she took a moment to breathe. " _That green iPod you've been eying. I asked him to get that._ "

Clank smiled and squeezed her hand. "Merci mama."

" _Lance said he would fill it with your favorite songs. We'll see what he comes up with._ " Chloe told him.

Clank smiled softly and kissed the back of her hand. " _Thank you mom. But what I really want for my birthday is for you to get well."_

 _"_ _I'll try my best."_ Chloe said, Clank could feel her try and squeeze his hand back and he leaned forward and put his head on her shoulder. " _I'm tired…"_ she said.

" _Get some sleep._ " Clank said. " _I'll be here when you wake up."_

Chloe turned her head slightly and kissed the top of Clank's head " _I love you, Clankie."_

" _I love you too, mom."_ A moment later they were both asleep.

Clank woke up to doctors pushing him aside. Chloe's pulse was weak and the doctors were working frantically to save her.

"Mama!" Clank yelled.

"Get him out of here!" One of the doctors yelled. A nurse tried to lead Clank out of the room. But he resisted at the door.

"Mama!" he yelled again. " _Mama don't go!_ " he screamed. " _Mama, please don't leave me! Mama please!"_

Chloe never woke up. She was gone before Clank was pulled from the room. The doctors called her time of death at 7:43 AM. Clank ran back to her body and held it tight, sobbing and begging for her to come back.

"Clement?"

Clank looked up from the floor. His throat was tight he felt sick.

Dr. Bell held out a box of tissues, he took them and blew his nose. "I'm sorry." He said when he found his voice again. "I'm sorry…"

"Clement you don't need to apologize." Dr. Bell said. "You have every reason to be upset."

"I just wanted her to get better." He said. "She was supposed to get better! She didn't have cancer anymore!"

"Clement, I agree it's not fair that your mother died after all the cancer treatments. There is no reason anyone can give you as for why this had to happen." Dr. Bell said.

"Gary told you before I started coming here, didn't he?" Clank asked. "You knew the whole time how she died?"

Dr. Bell nodded. "I knew. I was waiting until you were ready to talk about it."

"Did he also tell you I was going to kill myself?" Clank asked.

"He didn't." Dr. Bell said. "Though it doesn't come as a surprise. Many people face depression and suicidal thoughts after the loss of a loved one. Some are even pushed to act on them. But you should ask yourself, Clement. Is ending your life really the answer?"

"I'd be with my mom again." Clank said sullenly.

"True." Dr. Bell said. "But I don't think your mother would want you to throw your life away." Clank stared at the floor again. "What about the two that drove you here? You said those were your friends Lance and Hunk?"

"Yes…"

"They obviously care deeply for you to come all this way to see you." Clank nodded. "It's a hard road you have ahead of you, Clement. But it seems to me you have a lot of people who want to help you. And you made a big step in the right direction by calling me today."

Clank nodded again. "I miss her."

"And you'll always miss her. It's normal since you two loved each other so much." Dr. Bell said. "Take things one day at a time. We can talk again on Wednesday."

"Wait, what?" Clank looked at the clock.

"We've run over on time. It's okay, but I do have another appointment in twenty minutes that I need to prepare for." Dr. Bell explained.

"I'm so sorry."

"Don't be. I'm glad you came to speak with me today. We can pick up here next time." Dr. Bell led Clank out of the room and back to where Lance and Hunk waited. "I'll see you on Wednesday. Have a good weekend."

"I start school on Monday, you know." Clank said quickly.

"That's good. We can talk about how that is going next time as well." Dr. Bell said.

Clank gave him a half smile. "Okay, I'll see you then."

Hunk drove him back to his house. Lance leaned up to between the front seats to talk with them. "You doing okay, buddy?"

"I've been better." Clank sighed. "I spent so long talking about Mom that I didn't even get to the point of me going there."

"What do you mean?" Hunk asked.

Clank sighed and wrung his hands together. "I think my mom's mad at me."


	9. The Wrong Crowd

The weekend crept by slowly. Clank spent the rest of Friday with Hunk and Lance in his room. They talked about old times and about the upcoming year of school. They were both seniors this year and talked about applying to college. Clank was feeling at home with them there. Things felt okay for once. Things felt almost normal. Sure this was the wrong house in the wrong town with the wrong parent, but he at least had two of the right friends. Things got awkward when Lance turned the conversation to Silvermist's friend.

"So, that girl Sil showed you earlier. Whatever her name was."

"Vidia." Hunk said.

"What about her?" Clank asked.

"That was the girl from last night, wasn't it?" Lance asked. Clank stared down at the floor.

"Why didn't you tell Sil?" Hunk asked.

"I didn't want her to think poorly of her friend." Clank said.

Lance groaned. "Dude. She assaulted you! You don't have to preserve her image in Sil's eyes!"

"Yeah, Clank. I'm gonna have to side with Lance on this one. That was a bad move." Hunk said.

"Look, can we not talk about that? I'd like to just forget about it entirely, thanks." Clank said. He'd never told them how Chad had tried to force him into sex and the incident with Vidia, as awful as it was on its own, stirred up bad memories. He felt so used, and so worthless and just wanted to forget it. His friends were kind enough to drop it but assured him if he ever wanted to talk about it he could turn to them.

They left late Friday night, leaving Clank alone with his thoughts. He spent Saturday and Sunday locked in his room. He spent a lot of time on his laptop looking at old photos of Chloe, wishing he would start hearing her voice again, but it wouldn't say anything. Instead he heard _her_ voice. Vidia's voice. Laughing. Taunting. Telling him that she knew he wanted it all along. It made him shake and tremble, but he did his best not to cry again. As Sunday drew to a close he lay in bed listening to music, trying to drown out the voices in his head and saying to himself over and over that she didn't matter and he wouldn't ever see her again anyway.

Monday morning Clank woke with his alarm and groaned, staring at the ceiling. The sun was just rising and he could hear movement downstairs, but he really did not want to get out of bed.

"Terence! Clank! Get up!" Gary's voice rang out from downstairs. Clank pulled his pillow over his face and groaned. He absolutely did not want to get up. After a minute of listening to the sounds outside his room – Terence exiting his room and running down the stairs, then back up, toilet flushing, water running, and footsteps on the stairs again – Clank sat up and started getting dressed.

Gary had breakfast laid out when he entered the kitchen: toast, eggs and orange juice. Clank frowned and took a few pieces of toast and silently gathered his things for school. Gary was rushing around, wearing his uniform. He apparently had work that morning. Terence was getting his shoes on and checking his phone.

"Still haven't heard from Tink." He muttered as Clank passed him. Clank put his hand on his brother's shoulder. He didn't want to say anything, but he was certain Tink and her siblings were dead. It wasn't really a thought he wanted to remind Terence of on the first day of school.

"Clank, do you remember how to get there?" Gary asked, not looking up from packing his lunch.

"What?" Clank looked at him.

"The school, do you remember how to get there?" Gary asked.

Clank stared at him. It had been a few weeks since Gary took him to the school to get registered for sophomore year. He hadn't paid any attention on how to get there. "No, but aren't you driving us?"

Gary let out a heavy sigh. "No, I need to get to work." He fished Clank's car keys from his pocket. "I figured you could drive."

"Oh." Clank said, taking his keys from Gary. "Well. I… I don't know how to…"

"I know how to get there." Terence said.

"Alright, good." Gary said. "So you two have a good first day. And Clank…"

"Oui?"

Gary looked him in the eye, a stern look on his face. "Come straight home after school."

Clank swallowed and nodded. He hadn't thought about it until then, but he could have made a run for it and gone back home. But the look Gary gave him killed the idea as soon as it appeared.

Terence directed Clank to the school. He seemed just as anxious as Clank. It made sense. He was a freshman, so he was new to this school too. But at least Terence knew plenty of people where as Clank only knew one.

"I sure hope Tink is here." Terence said as they crossed the parking lot.

Clank couldn't look at him. "Would be nice." He sighed. Once inside, they stood in line to pick up their schedules then waited in the cafeteria for the bell. A few of Terence's friends showed up and sat with them and before long Silvermist appeared beside Clank.

"Good morning." She said sweetly, inching close to his side. "Can I see your schedule?" Clank handed it over and she scanned it. "Hmm. Looks like we don't even have the same lunch period."

"No?" Clank looked over her shoulder at the two papers. "That's too bad. I won't have anyone to sit with."

"I'm sure you can find someone. You'll make plenty of friends in no time." Sil said. She scanned down the page again. "You signed up for football?"

"I played at my old school. I probably won't make the team, so that'll probably change." Clank said. Sil smiled and leaned on his arm.

"Tink!" Terence yelled out. Clank's attention jerked up. He followed with his eyes where Terence was running and spotted two girls entering the cafeteria. Terence threw his arms around the blond girl who hugged him back tightly. Clank stared. It was definitely Tinkerbell. The girl with her had white hair and could be no one else but Periwinkle.

"…what?" Clank muttered as he pushed to his feet.

"What's wrong Clank?" Silvermist asked.

Before Clank could answer, the bell rang and Terence, Tink and her sister all disappeared into the hallway. "It's… it's nothing." Clank said.

The morning passed uneventfully. Clank went to his classes, paying little attention to the students around him. When the lunch bell rang he tried to hurry to the cafeteria to find somewhere to sit before some cliquey group or whatever forced him out of his seat. He hurried down a side stairwell which was less crowded. When he hit the ground floor and pushed the door open he found himself face to face with _her_.

"Merde." He breathed.

The girl smirked. "Hey."

Clank avoided her stare and tried to move around her, but she stepped in his path every time he tried. "Excuse me." He said nervously.

"It's Clank, right?" She said. His breath caught in his throat. "You're the new kid."

Clank swallowed and nodded. Maybe she didn't remember him from the party. Maybe she had been too drunk. He winced, that only made it worse. "Can you let me past?" She stepped aside and Clank entered the hallway and moved at a quick pace to get away from her. She followed him, easily keeping in step with him. "Why are you following me?"

"I'm not." She said coolly. "I'm just going to lunch."

"Could you not walk next to me?" Clank said bitterly.

She glared at him. "You got a problem with me, new guy?"

She either didn't remember or she was playing dumb. "Maybe."

"Well, that hardly seems fair, her I am trying to be nice and show you how to get to the lunch room." She said.

"I didn't ask." Clank snapped. That felt too familiar. He started to turn down a different corridor and she stayed by him. "Stop following me!"

"Do you even know where you're going?" She asked. Clank stopped, his stomach growled and he looked around, not really knowing where he was. He shook his head. The girl sighed. "It's this way. Come on."

Clank stared at her as she walked away. He didn't want to follow her, but he really didn't know where he was going. She looked over her shoulder at him. "You coming?" He sighed heavily and followed her. "I'm Vidia, by the way."

"I know." Clank mumbled. She glanced his way as she led him to the cafeteria.

"And how do you know that?" She asked.

"You're Silvermist's friend." Clank said. It didn't explain anything but he wasn't going to say any more.

She eyed him suspiciously but shrugged and said nothing more. She pushed open a big pair of double doors that led to the lunch room. It wasn't the same way he had gotten there that morning, so it was no wonder he was lost. The cafeteria was packed with hungry students. Clank stared, nerves returning.

Vidia pushed on his shoulder a bit. "You just gonna stand there?"

Clank shook his head and entered the crowded room. He moved back to the lunch lines, keeping an eye out for Terence or any of his or Sil's friends as he went, but didn't spot any of them.

"You have someone to sit with?" Clank startled and looked behind him. Vidia was still there. He hadn't noticed her still following him. He scowled and turned away from her. "So that's a no. Come sit with me then."

"I'd rather not." Clank said.

"Why?" Vidia asked, there was a bite to her tone. Clank didn't answer and just moved with the line until he got his lunch, a cruddy cheese burger and a carton of milk. "Are you just going to keep being an ass?"

"Look, Vidia." Clank huffed. "Thank you for showing me how to get here. I appreciate it. Now leave me alone."

"What the hell is your problem?" Vidia asked.

"You don't remember me at all, do you?" Clank snapped. Vidia glared but said nothing. "I met you last Thursday night and you…" he sighed. If she didn't remember maybe it was best not to remind her. "And you weren't very nice."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Not very nice? That's all you've got? Look, I barely remember anything that happened that night so how about you forget it too and come sit with me?"

"No." Clank said firmly. "You did something terrible and I will _never_ forget it."

"Oh really?" Vidia said, taking a step closer to Clank. It felt way too familiar as he faultered and took a step back. "Tell me then. What did I do?"

Clank froze. Part of him wanted to tell her off for what she'd done, make a big scene and make her feel as small, insignificant and powerless as she had done to him. How her voice had been haunting him for the last three days. But another part of him told him it would solve nothing and kept him silent. A hand dropped on his shoulder making him jump. Behind him was another Thursday night face he would like to forget. He didn't remember the guy's name, but remembered the quarrel between him and Tink's brother.

"Hey there, Vidia. You making my new friend feel welcome?" The guy said.

Vidia smirked at him "Well I'm trying to but he seems to think I'be done something awful."

The guy laughed. "Just one thing?"

"Shut up, Dozer." Vidia said with a smile. Clank tried to step away from them, but Dozer's hand tightened on his shoulder.

"Hey, what's your hurry, Boutin? Don't you want to come meet the rest of the team?" Dozer asked as if Clank had a say in the matter. "I'm sure they'd all love to meet our new… what position do you play?"

"Offensive tackle…" Clank answered automatically, and hated himself for it.

"Yeah, they're gonna love you." Dozer said and started to push Clank along. Vidia walked along with them until they stopped at a long table with a bunch of athletic students at it. "Guys, this is Boutin. New defensive tackle."

"Offensive." Clank corrected.

"Whatever." Dozer shrugged. He pointed to three of the guys sitting around the table. "This is Rumble, Driller, and Wes."

Wes, which Clank assumed must have been the only real name of the group, stood up and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you." Clank nodded, but didn't speak. The other two started talking about themselves. Rumble seemed rather thick headed and self centered while Driller laughed and agreed with whatever was being said.

Clank still wanted to leave, but Dozer stayed behind him, blocking his escape, so he finally decided to just sit down and eat. Much to his displeasure, Vidia and Dozer sat down on either side of him. Dozer kept pulling Clank's attention to the football players while Vidia talked with some of the others sitting at the table. Clank was able to pick up enough of her conversations to figure out they were members of the track team.

It was all so uncomfortable an awkward for Clank. He finished his lunch quickly and tried to listen for any reason to excuse himself. He kept glancing around the room and spotted a tall red head leaving the lunch room. He wasn't sure, but thought it might be Tink's brother, and questions of what happened Thursday night filled his mind. That was as good an excuse as anything, so Clank stood to leave.

"Where are you going?" Dozer asked.

"Bathroom." Clank lied. He hurried away from the table and disposed of his lunch tray before anyone at the table could stop him and made his way to the double doors where he saw the red head disappear. He realized then he had no idea where the boy was headed and had no way to track him down. Well, at least he got away from Vidia and Dozer. That would do for now. He instead went to his locker and got his books for his next class.

His classes after lunch could be described as miserable. Where his early classes had no familiar faces, his afternoon classes had one: Vidia. And what was worse was they were seated alphabetically by last name putting them, Boutin and Allen, too close together for his liking. He tried his best to ignore it. He did his best not to look in her direction, but every time he did, she was looking right back at him. He could almost feel her staring at him and it made him want to scream. She walked beside him to the next class and it all repeated again. What was this girl's problem?

His last period was football. It would be his escape from her. But unfortunately he would be trading Vidia for Dozer, and he honestly wasn't sure which he preferred. The team was practicing outside today and Clank felt out of place, thinking they probably should have met inside for the first day. But the team had been practicing for the past month leading up to the school year in a pre season football camp. Clank should have figured. He didn't get to practice though. He hadn't turned in his physical form and had until the end of the week to get it to the coach. Clank seriously considered not getting it done.

He sat on the sidelines to watch. The track team was using the track around the football field at the time, but Clank paid no attention to them as he watched the football team. He sat behind the coach, listening to the drills he was running while considering if he even wanted to be there. He heard several pairs of feet run behind him on the track and one slow to a stop.

"You'd probably be a bigger asset to the team if you actually played." Clank startled at Vidia's voice. He turned quickly to face her. _She actually looks pretty good in her track uniform._ Clank wanted to hit himself for the thought.

"Leave me alone." He said and turned his attention back to the team.

"Why aren't you practicing?" Vidia asked, leaning against his back.

"Get off me!" Again, too familiar. He stood up and faced her. "I'd love to be practicing if it meant you'd stop bothering me!"

Vidia stepped back and glared at him. "So then why aren't you?"

"I dunno! Why aren't _you_ running?" Clank demanded.

"Because I'm three laps ahead of everyone else." Vidia shrugged.

Clank narrowed his eyes. He looked around for the track coach but couldn't spot him. "I haven't had my sports physical yet." Clank said as he glanced around. His eyes landed on one of the runners as he ran past. Tall, red hair, glasses, it was Tink's brother. Clank followed him with his eyes. He wiped the sweat from his brow, and was obviously breathing hard. He must not be in as good of shape as some of the other track members.

"Well, when are you getting it done?" Vidia asked.

"What?" Clank tore his attention from the boy and back to Vidia.

"Your physical. When are you getting it done?" She asked.

"I dunno." He said and looked back to Tink's brother.

"My dad could do it." Vidia said. "He's a doctor. If you wanted to come over after school, he could take care of it for you. And then maybe you and I could get to know each other a little better." She smiled and stepped closer and ran a hand over his shoulder.

Clank stepped away from her. "Pass." He said thinking he'd rather cut his own hand off than spend any time with her.

"Oh come on. You wouldn't have to pay for it or anything." She said bitterly.

"I said no." Clank said firmly. "Besides, my brother and I are grounded and can't stay out after school."

"Not even to take care of something _for_ school?" she asked.

Clank glared at her. "What part of 'No' are you not understanding? Seems to be a concept you can't seem to grasp!"

"Boutin!" the football coach yelled.

Clank turned around. "Yes, sir?"

"Final bell rang. You don't have to stay today since you aren't practicing, but get that physical form in ASAP."

"Yes sir." Clank said and gathered his bag.

Vidia grabbed his hand before he walked off "My offer stands if you change your mind."

Clank jerked his hand away. "I won't." he headed back inside to find Terence, glancing over his shoulder briefly to look for Tink's brother. As much as he wanted to ask him about what had happened, he knew if he stayed Vidia would keep talking to him. He watched for just a moment as she started running again and his eyes fell on the boy, now walking with one hand to his chest and the other arm raised above his head.

It took ten minutes to find Terence. He was sitting with a few people he recognized from the party, like Fawn and Buck. Silvermist sat with them too and she came up to him and hugged him tight.

"You have a good first day?" she asked.

Clank shrugged. "It was fine. But we'd better get going. Gary will kill me if I don't give my keys back to him."

Silvermist nodded. "Yeah, we're all grounded too." She gestured to the rest of the group.

"How long?" Clank asked.

"A week." Fawn said.

"Three for me." Sil said.

"I'm grounded for two." Clank said. He heard Terence mutter something, but didn't acknowledge it. "Don't wanna push my luck, so I'd better go."

Sil smiled at him. "Okay, See you tomorrow." She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek.

When they were in the car Terence glanced over at him. "So are you and Sil dating now?"

Clank raised an eyebrow. "No?"

"She kissed you." Terence pointed out.

Clank sighed. "I know, but she's not my girlfriend."

"If you say so." Terence shrugged.

"So did Tink tell you anything?" Clank asked. "About what happened last Thursday? I saw her brother a couple times but didn't get a chance to talk to him."

"Yeah." Terence said. "She said that they all ran off when they had to stop for gas. Their mom picked them up."

Clank's brow furrowed. "That can't be all that happened."

"That's what Tink told me!" Terence said. "Bobble's car was low on gas. They pulled over to fill it up, and they ran off."

"Yeah, but what about their sister? She was on the bike." Clank said.

"I don't know what to tell you, Clank. I've just got what Tink told me." Terence shrugged. "Anyway, I thought football was practicing today. Why aren't you?"

"Well, when Gary signed me up for school he apparently forgot that I needed a fitness physical in order to play. So I guess I need to get that done." Clank shrugged.

"Oh, hey that's no big deal. We've got a family friend who can do it for free." Terence said.

"Yeah?" Clank said, pulling into the drive way.

"Yeah, just let dad know and he'll call him." Terence said. They headed inside and threw their stuff down. Clank left his keys on the counter for Gary and followed Terence into the living room.

"Who is this family friend?" Clank asked.

"Doctor Allen." Terence said.

Clank sighed heavily, "that's Vidia Allen's dad, isn't it?"

"Yeah!" Terence said. "You've met her? She's in your grade."

Clank nodded, "She sat by me at lunch." _Elle m'a vuolée à la fête._

"Wow, really?" Terence said, amazed. "She's one of the most popular girls in school. How'd you score a lunch date?"

"It wasn't a lunch date!" Clank shouted. "I just… Dozer was introducing me to some of the football players and she followed us." Clank crossed his arms and stared at the floor. Terence was being quiet and when Clank looked up at him he had a stupid grin on his face. "What?" He said.

"My brother's in with the popular kids." Terence grinned.

"No." Clank said, "No, absolutely not."

Terence smiled. "Whatever you say, man." He stepped back. "But I'd understand if you picked Vidia over Silvermist."

A low growl rumbled in Clank's throat. He lunged at Terence who bolted up the stairs laughing. Clank gave chase and was only stopped when Terence slammed his bedroom door in his face. Clank screamed and slammed his fist on the door, Terence laughed on the other side. "It's not funny!" Clank screamed. "Si vous saviez ce qu'elle m'a fait, vous ne ririez pas!"

"Still don't know French, Clank!" Terence shouted through the door, still laughing. Clank growled and hit the door again before he retreated to his own room and slammed the door. He didn't bring up the physical form with Gary that night. The thought of having someone related to Vidia examining him sickened him. He decided he would research doctors on his own and if he decided to stay with football then he would get his physical.

The rest of the week progressed the same as Monday. The main difference was now Vidia came looking for him in the mornings. He would be sitting in the cafeteria with Silvermist, trying to spend time with her since they didn't get to see each other during the day and Vidia would appear by his side. He really wanted to tell her to shove off, but she was Sil's friend and used that to her advantage. She would hold conversations with her while casting glances Clank's way and every time he thought he could get up and leave, the conversations were directed at him again.

During lunch, he tried to get his food and disappear before anyone could talk to him, but Dozer had been keeping an eye out for him and would drag him to the table with the other athletic students every day. And of course that meant Vidia wa right beside him again. He kept an eye out for anyone else he could sit with. He looked for Sil's friends or Tink's brother. He didn't know them but at least they would be an escape from these people.

During football he stayed by the coach's side, writing down the plays and watching carefully while the team practiced. He continued to assure the coach that he would be getting his physical done real soon, but had made no real attempts to get it done. He had pretty much convinced himself he didn't want to play and figured he could sign up for a different class that would be more enjoyable.

At home he still didn't tell Gary about the physical form. He usually locked himself in his room as soon as he got home to ignore more confrontation from Terence. He was still angry about his comments from Monday and hadn't been in a forgiving mood. The only times he left his room was for eating and the bathroom.

Wednesday evening he had his appointment with Dr. Bell. He had been looking forward to that since Friday. He really wanted to get some of the frustrations out, but once he was with the psychiatrist, he couldn't bring himself to tell him what had happened to him at the party. Vidia's voice invaded his mind again. _Is trouble with a girl really necessary to bring up in therapy?_ He decided it wasn't and kept his mouth shut about it. He did bring up how he used to hear his mother's voice since her passing and it had been nearly a week since she'd said anything to him.

"That may not be a bad thing, Clement." Dr. Bell said. "It could mean that you're recovering and letting her go."

"I feel like she's angry with me." Clank admitted.

"Why do you feel that?" Dr. Bell asked. Clank merely shrugged. "Come now, has something happened that you're feeling guilty about?"

Vidia crossed his mind again. He clenched his fists a few times and shook his head. Dr. Bell sighed and tried to urge Clank to open up, but it dissolved back to dodging questions like their first visit, and Clank hated himself for it.

Things didn't get better from there. Thursday night, Gary came into his room uninvited when he got home from work. Clank was working on his math homework at the time and wasn't expecting any confrontation from the man.

"The school called me this afternoon. Why didn't you tell me you needed a sports physical?" Gary asked.

Clank chewed his tongue and considered answering in French to annoy him. "I figured you already knew. Terence has one on file." He shrugged

"Terence got his done in May. It didn't even occur to me you needed one too." Gary said.

"I'm just going to switch classes." Clank said. "I need the form in tomorrow and it's too late to get it done now."

"Nonsense" Gary said. He pulled his phone from his pocket.

"What are you doing?" Clank asked nervously. Gary put the phone up to his ear and waited. "Who are you calling?"

"Hello, Lawrence? It's Garret. My son needs a physical done by tomorrow would it be too much trouble to have you look him over tonight?"

"Gary, don't." Clank said. Gary held up his hand to silence him.

"No, this is my other son. Yes I have two sons!" Gary said. "Can I bring him over? Okay, see you soon." He hung up and turned to Clank. "Get your shoes on."

"Gary!" Clank shouted as Gary left the room. "Merde…"

Clank tried to stay in his room and avoid going with Gary. After sitting upstairs for ten minutes, Gary came looking for him and snapped at him to get downstairs. Reluctantly Clank went with him. They were only in the car for about five minutes when they pulled up to a big house. It wasn't nearly as big as the house from last week, but it was still bigger than Gary's or his mother's house. The man who opened the door was tall and thin. He was slightly taller than Clank and had the same sharp eyes as Vidia.

"Evening, Gary." He greeted and shook Gary's hand. "So this is your other son?"

"Clement." Gary nodded. "He lived with his mother until recently."

"I see. Well, let's get you checked out Clement." Dr. Allen smiled. He took Clank to the back of the house where he had him take off his shirt and told him to do a number of things which supposedly showed if he was healthy enough to play sports. The whole situation was uncomfortable. Clank only took comfort in the fact that he hadn't seen Vidia.

Dr. Allen was quick and careful with Clank. He asked him of any health concerns and if he was on any medication. The whole thing was over rather quickly. "Alright, Clement, looks like you're good to go." He said with a smile. "I'll bring the form to your father and you can get dressed."

Clank nodded, not making eye contact. "Merci." Dr. Allen left the room and Clank picked up his shirt.

"You know, it's funny." Clank startled at her voice. "I could have sworn I told you to come over on Monday and do this."

"Would you go away?" Clank asked. He pulled his shirt over his head. Vidia's hands were on his bare sides before he could pull his shirt down.

"Hm, big man, aren't you?" She said, squeezing his sides.

"Don't touch me!" Clank yelled, stepping back from her.

"Calm down, I'm just playing around." She smirked.

"Well don't!" He snapped. "How many times do I have to spell out that I don't like you? So just back off and leave me alone!" She stared at him, surprised as he stormed angrily from the room. He didn't stop when Gary called out to him. He just got in the car and waited.

"What happened?" Gary asked as they drove away.

"I don't want to talk about it." Clank muttered.

Gary stared at him for a moment before sighing. "Alright. Well, Lawrence says you're good to play football so…"

"I don't want to play football." Clank said.

"You played at your old school." Gary pointed out.

"Yeah, well I was also in a ballroom dancing class but I don't see you jumping up to sign me up for that." Clank grumbled.

Gary pulled into the driveway beside Clank's car. "Well, if you stick with football for the semester, we can look into a dance class if you really want to."

Clank didn't answer. He climbed out of the car and went to his room and locked himself inside. He didn't believe Gary's offer, and really just wanted to get the day over with. He opened his notebook to finish his homework and cranked his music up to drown out any noise.

He lay down on his bed when he finished and stared up at the ceiling. There was a knock at the door and he grimaced. Clank got out of bed and opened the door. "Gary, I really don't want to talk right now." He said.

"Wow, I'm not that big."

Clank stared in disbelief for half a second before he groaned. "Oh mon Dieu. What do you want?" Vidia dug into her pocket and stepped into Clank's room. "I didn't say you could come in!"

She stopped and turned around, pulling a phone from her pocket and placing it on Clank's desk. "There. That's why you're mad at me right? Because I took your phone?" Clank stared at the phone for a minute then looked back at her. "If it makes any difference I didn't mean to take it." Clank continued to stare at her silently. "I meant to bring it back to you, but you were being a jerk."

Clank crossed his arms and glared at her. This, if anything, made things worse. She knew she had his phone yet supposedly didn't remember anything else? The whole think was a load of crap. Vidia stared back at him and shrugged. "You gonna say something or are you just going to stare at me?"

Clank pushed past her and grabbed his phone. Unsurprisingly, the battery was dead. He reached behind his desk for the charger and plugged it in. He was being aggressive about every movement, being sure she knew how unhappy he was about her being there. "Okay, you can drop the act now." Vidia said. "I know you're just being defensive because you think this is a prank. But I promise it isn't. You're actually pretty damn cute."

Clank gripped his phone so tight his hands trembled. Was she really trying to flirt with him? He really wanted to call her out on her bullshit. She chuckled then. "Wow, you really are a stubborn jackass aren't you?"

Clank turned on her, anger burning in his chest. "What the hell do you want from me? Why the hell are you here? And why, oh god why, did Gary let you in?"

Vidia blew out a breath. "Okay, Well let's see, pretty sure I've already answered the first question. You're cute and I like you. And your dad let me in because I asked if I could bring you your phone. Figured you'd quit hating me if you got it back."

" _Really?_ " Clank hissed. "You think I hate you because of a cell phone?" he faced her, towering over her. "You know why I hate you? Because you won't leave me alone! Because for the past week you've been tormenting me even when you aren't around! Because your voice keeps echoing in my head reminding me over and over again what you did that night! How I told, no, _begged_ you to stop and you wouldn't listen and insisted that I wanted it! All because you're some self-absorbed bitch who couldn't handle losing a damn contest!"

Vidia gawked at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh don't pretend you don't know!" Clank growled. "There's no way you were _that_ drunk! You knew the phone was mine, so you've got to remember how you got it."

Vidia swallowed and shifted her weight. She stared at the corner of the desk. "I knew… because there were messages… they called you Clank, so I knew because…"

"Oh, and you just _happened_ to figure out who I was from that? How did you know _I_ was Clank? It could've been anyone!" he argued.

She crossed her arms tightly. "Terence… Terence mentioned he had a brother!"

"And we look nothing alike. And you managed to pick me out as that brother?" Clank said.

"Okay fine!" Vidia shouted. "Yes! I know what happened! I know what I did and I'm sorry!"

Clank loomed over her. His blood was still boiling and he just wanted to scream. However his voice came out low and even. "Sorry isn't good enough." He turned back to his phone, hearing it start up. "Now get out."

He refused to look back at her. He heard her take a few breaths, a few steps, and a few breaths more. "Is there any way you'll forgive me?" Clank scrolled through his missed messages for a moment, letting her question hang. "…Clank?"

"No." he said finally. "I'm never going to forgive you." He still didn't look at her, but heard the shaking breath and the retreating steps that turned into a run. Finally he looked over his shoulder to find himself alone. He dropped on his bed with his phone in hand and messaged his old friends of his triumph, Finally, Clank started to feel a little bit better about everything.


	10. Bad Sense of Normalcy

School got more comfortable for Clank after the confrontation in his room. Vidia didn't come looking for him in the morning, leaving him available to talk with Silvermist. He asked her how her week had gone and she asked about his. Things were finally starting to feel normal. He showed her that he had gotten his phone back, but he lied about where he found it, claiming he found it under the seat of his car.

"I got my phone back too." Sil said when they were heading to class. "Bobble was holding it for me. He gave it back on Monday."

"Did he tell you what happened that night?" Clank asked, then clarified "About getting kidnaped I mean."

Silvermist shook her head. "He said he barely remembers anything." Clank hummed, not sure if he believed it, especially since Vidia had been lying about what she knew as well. "You should ask him some time. I bet you two would get along real well."

Clank shrugged. "I'll think about it." He hugged Sil goodbye and went to his class.

He had thought about it all week. He hadn't had a chance to talk to Bobble or his sisters since the incident, but was really curious about what had actually gone down that night. He knew he had lunch with Bobble, having seen him in the cafeteria at least three days that week. He thought maybe now that he'd managed to push Vidia away he might get a chance to speak with Bobble.

He made his way down to lunch, happy that Vidia wasn't seeking him out. He actually hadn't seen her at all that day. It didn't bother him in the slightest, but it did seem odd that he didn't even see her when he went to lunch. From what he could see across the lunch room, she wasn't sitting with the athletic students. He made sure to keep a wide radius of that table so no one would drag him there.

He kept an eye out for the ginger boy, but it seemed he was either not there that day or chose to spend lunch somewhere else. Since Clank didn't have anywhere else to sit he decided he would bring his lunch to the library. Maybe if he was lucky, Bobble would be there. He sat in the back with his two slices of pizza and looked through a book on crystals that had been left on the table.

"Excuse me." A small voice said. Clank looked up. Well, it wasn't Bobble but it was the next best thing.

"Hey," he smiled. "Periwinkle, right?"

She nodded with a smile. "And you're Clement?" She had two books in her arms about geology.

Clank hesitated a moment, having forgotten he'd introduced himself by his real name. "Oui. But call me Clank."

Periwinkle nodded and sat down across from him. "I thought you were only here for the summer."

Clank shrugged. "Change of plans."

"You know you're not really supposed to eat in here." She said.

"Oh." Clank said and tried to hurry and eat his pizza before a librarian caught him.

She chuckled a little bit. "It's probably not a big deal, my brother has lunch in here all the time."

Clank swallowed hard. "Then why bother telling me?"

She shrugged. "I guess I was curious what you would do."

Clank rolled his eyes, but smiled none the less. "Do you mind if I ask you something?"

"I guess not, but will it take long?" she asked. "I need to get back to class soon, and I need to check out that book you were reading."

"Oh! I'm sorry." Clank passed the book to her. "Need those for class?"

Peri nodded. "So what did you want to ask?"

"Well, it's about that party last week." He started and noticed how Peri immediately stiffened. He remembered how stressed she seemed even before she had been snatched. Maybe it was better not to ask after all. "Well, I was just wondering… um… if… if you figured out how word got out and… why it was so crowded? Because Terence told me it was supposed to be a small party"

Peri seemed to relax. "No, haven't figured that out yet. Tink's been asking around and nobody's fessed up."

"Oh, okay then." Clank sighed. "You got home safe though right?" images of her being carried through the hall flashed in his mind.

She nodded. "Yeah, no problem at all. You and Terence got home safe too?"

Clank nodded. He pictured the motorcycle driving off with her in the side car. "Oui… No problems at all."

"Great!" Peri said with a smile. "Well, I really need to get back to class. I'll see you around, okay?"

"Okay." Clank nodded. Well that got him nowhere. Maybe he would never know what happened that night. He might still be able to ask the brother if he ever found him, but so far he was just as confused as the first day of school.

The rest of the afternoon went smoothly. Vidia was in class, but didn't even look at him or try to talk to him. _Bon._ She even hurried out of the classes when they ended so she was far ahead of him in the hallway. It didn't bother him one bit. In fact it made him happy that she was the one feeling awful instead of him.

When he got to practice at the end of the day, the coach was happy to hear his physical form was finally in. He sent him to get fitted for equipment and informed him since they were running plays for their first game that he would start practice next week. Clank asked if he had to be at the first game, which he was surprised to hear he could skip since he wasn't playing. Clank wasn't about to argue and looked forward to spending Friday night in his room. Unfortunately since he was getting his equipment, he missed his opportunity to see Bobble running track. Oh well, the semester was just beginning. There would be plenty of time to talk to him.

Terence gave Clank a shock when they were driving home that afternoon. "Did something happen between you and Vidia last week?" he asked.

Clank nearly crashed into the car in front of him. "What? Why do you ask?"

Terence shrugged. "Well, all that stuff you were yelling last night. I kinda heard all of it."

Clank chewed his lip and focused on the road. "Yeah. Something happened."

Silence hung between them for a moment. "Is that why you got mad at me on Monday?" Clank nodded in response. More silence. "I'm sorry." Terence said finally.

"It's fine." Clank said as he pulled onto their street.

They were quiet until they were at the house and Terence spoke up again when Clank killed the engine. "She's pretty cool when you get to know her."

"I don't want to get to know her." Clank said calmly.

"That's fair." Terence sighed. "I ran into her this morning."

"How unfortunate for you." Clank said. He climbed out of the car and headed inside. Terence followed quickly behind him.

"Clank, she wanted me to apologize for her. She's really sorry for whatever happened." He said.

"I don't really care!" Clank yelled. "What she did… it's unforgivable. So I don't care how much she apologizes, I'm not going to let it go."

"When did you turn into such an asshole?" Terence snapped. "I think I liked you better when you were depressed."

"Oh, I'm the asshole?" Clank argued. "Do you even know what she did to me?"

Terence stopped. "No, what did she do?"

Clank sighed heavily. "It's actually better you don't know."

"Come on, just tell me." Terence pressed. "Vidia and I are friends… sort of. If she did something horrible, I want to know!"

Clank shifted uncomfortably. "Okay fine…" he said. "C'mere." He led him to the living room and sat down on the couch. He was glad that Gary wasn't back yet, since he didn't want him knowing what had happened. Terence sat by him and waited expectantly for an explanation. "Look, you can't tell Gary, okay?"

"Okay." Terence said. "So what happened?"

Clank crossed his arms and shifted again. He really didn't want to say again. Even though he'd told her off, even though she was the one feeling guilty now, it still felt terrible to think about. He took a deep breath to ground himself. "That night while we were looking for Sil, I was following a girl who I thought was her, but it was actually Vidia. She closed me in a room and forced herself onto me… I was freaked out and scared and forgot what language I was speaking for a minute… but I told her no. I told her over and over again, but she didn't stop."

Terence stared in disbelief. "She raped you?"

Clank nodded. "And then pretended she didn't remember."

Terence let out a shuttered breath. "Clank… I… I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault." Clank said.

"But I yelled at you… and what I said the other day… I… I didn't know, I'm sorry."

"Terence. It's fine. I'm not mad at you." Clank assured him.

"But that shouldn't have happened to you. I mean… god… I'm so sorry." Terence leaned over and hugged Clank tightly. Clank rubbed his back, glad that Terence didn't make fun of him for this. "Does anyone else know?"

"Hunk and Lance know. And Sil knows it happened. She doesn't know who did it though." Clank said. "Don't tell her, okay?"

"Why not?" Terence asked.

"I dunno…" Clank shrugged. "She pulled up Vidia's picture last week and asked if it was her and I told her it wasn't. I just… I don't know why I lied to her. But I don't want her to know."

"Okay… I won't say anything." Terence said with a frown. "I think you should tell her though."

"I probably should." Clank agreed. "But not yet."

"But you told her off, and now she isn't bothering you, right?"

"Well she wasn't bothering me today anyway." Clank said. "We'll see how long it lasts." Terence pat him on the shoulder. They heard Gary pull into the driveway so they both dropped the subject and went about their own business.

Clank spent most of the weekend texting with his old friends. They were glad to hear he was doing alright. He told Lance and Hunk to relay what had happened to him so he didn't have to say it all over again. Pidge made a few threats to come down and mess with Vidia for him, but he told them to hold off for now.

Keith asked if he ever found out what happened with the two men from the party. He told them honestly that he had tried, but hadn't found anything out. Keith and Pidge seemed to be on board that they were the junker criminals, but Clank wasn't so sure. If that was in fact who those two were, then how were Tink and her siblings alive? It just didn't make sense.

He decided on Monday he was going to get to the bottom of it. When he went to school that day he waited with Terence for Tink to show up. She walked in with Peri at her side and Terence made his way to them. Clank followed behind him, contemplating what to ask her.

"Tink!" Terence said, giving her a hug. "You remember my brother, right?"

Tink nodded. "Nice to see you again." She said, smiling. "This is my sister Peri."

"We've met." Periwinkle said, smiling softly.

Clank smiled at her "good to see you again, Peri."

Terence put his arm around Tinkerbell. "So, Tink. Clank was wondering about that party."

"What about it?" Tink asked.

Clank saw Periwinkle frown, but since Terence had already asked Tink about it once, he figured there would be no problem asking again. "Well, it was more about those two who showed up at the end. I was wondering how you all got away from them."

"Oh, is that all?" Tink asked.

"I could've told you the other day." Peri said.

"Yeah, you see Bobble forgot to fill up his car before the party, so we were low on gas anyway. So they had to pull over to fill up. We ran off then and called our mom for a ride." Tink explained.

"See?" Terence said, nudging Clank. "That's exactly what I told you."

"Right…" Clank sighed. "But Peri, you were on the bike. How did you get away?"

"He stopped with the car." Peri shrugged. "I guess he didn't want to get separated from his friend. So I was able to run off too."

"Good thing." Tink laughed. "I doubt I could've dragged Bobble off by myself."

Peri glanced at Tink for a second, then laughed too. "Yeah!" She smiled awkwardly.

"So that's it? You ran off at the gas station?" Clank asked.

"That's right." Tink nodded. "Managed to get away unharmed."

None of it made sense. That sounded way too simple, not to mention they both seemed way too calm about the whole thing. "Where's your brother?" Clank asked.

"What, you don't believe us so you're going to ask him?" Tink asked.

 _Oui._ "No, of course not." Clank said. "It's just I've met you both, so I'd like to meet him too." It was half true. He did want to meet Bobble, but he mostly wanted to see if his story matched theirs.

"Oh," Peri said. "That makes sense."

"Yeah," Tink nodded. "Well, Bobble usually goes straight to his first class."

"Which is…?" Clank was getting a little impatient.

"Advanced shop class." Peri says. "Probably would spend all day in there if the school let him."

Clank raised an eyebrow. He had shop third period. It was a shame he didn't share the class with Bobble. It would make talking to him a lot easier. "Alright, thanks." Clank said he started to walk away but the bell rang. Clank groaned and turned around to head to his first class. Looks like Bobble would have to wait.

When Lunch time came, Clank hurried to the cafeteria in hopes of catching Bobble. He didn't spot him on the way there, nor when he got through the lunch line. He was about to head out of the cafeteria to search for him in the library when a hand gripped his shoulder. Clank grimaced, realizing it was Dozer.

"Where you headed, Boutin?" Dozer asked, starting to lead him back to his lunch table.

"I was going to the library…" Clank mumbled.

"Not supposed to eat in there you know." Dozer shrugged. "C'mon, come sit with us. You're starting practice with us today and I figured we could tell you some plays we like to run." The suggestion was innocent enough but something in Dozer's tone made Clank feel like he was in for some kind of trouble.

"Could we do that later?" Clank asked when they reached the table.

Dozer pushed on his shoulder and made him sit across from Wes. "No." he said flatly. Clank scowled, and glanced to the other end of the table. Vidia was sitting there talking with other students, smiling and laughing. She glanced his way and her smile faltered just slightly before she looked away.

Lunch dragged on. Clank tried to leave three times, but each time he tried, Dozer wouldn't allow it. The other teammates never brought up any plays or anything about practice at all so Clank wondered what the point was for him to even sit with them.

At the end of the day Clank stood on the practice field with the rest of the team. It had been a long time since he'd ever run any of the old drills his old coach made him run. He was really out of shape and wondered why he was even let on the team. What good could he even be on this team? They seemed to be working him particularly hard, probably to catch him up to speed with everyone else. It probably would be easier to kick him off the team.

Between drills, Clank was looking around the track. Vidia was running ahead of everyone else, lapping other runners. She must be the star of the team. He managed to spot Bobble just as Vidia was passing him. They seemed to exchange words as she passed. Bobble looked angry. Tired and angry.

"Boutin!" the coach screamed. Clank's attention snapped back to practice. They were starting to run plays. He went to line up with the other offensive players. They faced the defense and he readied himself for the play.

He wasn't very good. He already knew that. Football had always been for exercise and not for sport. They ran play after play until practice started to draw to a close.

"Alright boys, let's make this one good!" the coach yelled. "Do this right and we'll call it a day!"

Clank took a deep breath to focus himself and stared at Driller who was across from him in the lineup. They all sprang into action and for once Clank felt like the play was going well. He collided with Driller and pushed him back while the ball went flying. He grinned to himself until Driller stepped back and ducked around Clank. He stumbled forward, unaware of what was coming. Dozer smashed hard into him and knocked him flat on his back.

The wind knocked out of him Clank gasped for air. His chest ached, his ears were ringing. He'd been hit so hard his eyes started to water. Dozer stood over him and for a moment, Clank thought he was concerned about him.

"We're even." He spat. Clank tried to breathe but couldn't do more than suck in small breaths. What the hell were they even for? "You crying?" Dozer sneered. "Holy shit you're actually crying." Clank grimaced. "What're you gonna do? Gonna run home to mommy and have her kiss it better?"

That hurt more than the tackle. Clank tried to ignore it, but it sat in his stomach and stirred up until he was crying from more than just the pain. "You're a little mama's boy aren't you, Boutin? What's she gonna do? She gonna give you a bandaid and swaddle you up til you feel better?"

"Back off!" Clank looked at the source of the voice. Dozer looked up as well and actually stepped back and his sneer softened. Vidia knelt by Clank and put her hand on his chest. "It's okay, try to relax." She said calmly. Clank stared at her and tried to calm his breathing.

"Boutin, are you alright?" The coach asked, now hovering over him as well.

Clank couldn't find his voice but nodded. Vidia spoke for him. "I think he should go to the nurse's office."

The coach allowed it and Vidia helped Clank to his feet and led him to the sidelines where he threw down his helmet. Clank heard yelling behind him and looked over his shoulder, surprised to see another track member arguing with Dozer. That same tall red head Clank had been trying to track down. Bobble.

"You're gonna be okay." Vidia said calmly. She stayed with him until they were outside the nurse's office. They didn't even think that she might not be there now that most of the students had gone home. Vidia sighed and stared at the blacked out office. "Okay, sit down." She said and pointed at a bench by the wall. Clank sat down and she sat by him and put her hand on his chest and put slight pressure on it. "Does that hurt?"

Clank shook his head. She moved her hand, pressing on his sides, asking if there was any pain, and Clank told her there wasn't. She relaxed and withdrew her hands, and sat beside him. "It's probably nothing then." She said. "He just hit you really hard. You might have gotten a concussion if you hadn't been wearing your helmet." Clank nodded but still didn't say anything. The silence grew heavy as they sat there for several minutes.

"Hey, I know you're mad at me." Vidia said making Clank glance at her. "I get it, really. I'm really sorry though." Clank looked away then, staring straight ahead. "You don't have to say anything."

Clank sighed. "Did you just help me because you feel guilty?"

"No." Vidia said, she turned to him, scowling. "I helped you because you got hurt."

"So if it had been me tackling Dozer, you'd be sitting here with him right now?" Clank asked.

Vidia heaved a heavy sigh. "No." she admitted. "Look, I really like you."

"Why?" Clank asked.

Vidia shrugged. "I don't know! I just do, okay? You're cute and you're honest and Dozer's a jerk for hurting you."

"It was just football practice." Clank said. "Stuff like that's bound to happen."

"Bullshit." Vidia said. "He targeted you. You're both on offense and there was no reason for him to be tackling you." Clank hadn't even considered that. "Look, I don't expect you to magically like me now that I've stood up for you, I just figure you shouldn't have to deal with Dozer's crap."

Clank leaned his head against the wall. "How drunk were you that night?"

"What?" Vidia looked at him.

"At the party, how drunk were you?" He asked.

Vidia shrugged. "I don't know. I had plenty though. Why?"

"Sil told me you'd never." He paused trying to think how to word what he wanted to say "She said you'd never do what you did to me, and I want to believe her."

Vidia crossed her arms. "Well the sad truth is I did do it. There's no excuse for it even if I was drunk."

"True." Clank said bitterly.

"I guess somewhere in the fog I just saw a super hot guy who I wanted." Vidia said. "And I got him and now he hates me." She stood up and faced him. "Right?"

Clank eyed her carefully. "Something like that."

"Though you know what I don't get?" Vidia asked.

"What?"

"Look at you, then look at me." She said, Clank's brow furrowed in confusion. "You're huge, and I'm not. Why didn't you just throw me off?"

Clank rose to his feet. "Don't you dare turn this on me." He growled.

"I'm just saying! You could've easily stopped it if you'd just pushed me off of you!" Vidia argued. "So why didn't you?"

"This isn't my fault!" Clank shouted.

"I'm not saying it is! I just want to know why you didn't stop me!" Vidia shouted back.

"I don't know!" Clank said. "I should have, yes, but I didn't! I don't know why it didn't cross my mind to do that, but you may or may not recall I was pretty freaked out!"

Vidia stared evenly. "You were babbling some nonsense for a while there."

Clank sighed and sank back down on the bench. "It was French." He said. "Apparently I default to French when I'm scared… and forget obvious ways to protect myself."

Vidia uncrossed her arms and rested one hand on her hip. She hesitated for a moment, obviously wanting to say something. "You speak French?"

Clank opened his mouth, ready to tell her not to change the subject, but realized maybe it was better to focus on something else, so he nodded. "Grew up speaking both French and English." He said. "My mom grew up in Colmar, and she thought it was important for me to know French in case we ever went back there."

"That's pretty cool." Vidia said, sitting by him again. "I don't know any foreign languages. Can you teach me a phrase?"

Clank glanced at her. "Sure." He turned to face her better. "Okay, say 'Je suis'"

Vidia smiled "Je suis"

"une énorme"

"une… énorme"

"salope"

"salope."

"Okay now put it all together." Clank said.

Vidia took a breath and said slowly. "Je suis une énorme salope." Clank tried to hold back a laugh. "What did I just say?"

"I'm a huge bitch." Clank translated. Vidia's face fell and Clank started laughing.

"You're an ass." She said, slapping the back of her hand against his arm. Clank barely flinched and laughed harder. Vidia grinned and chuckled as well. "I guess I deserved that though."

Clank calmed down and leaned forward on his knees. "A little bit, yeah"

Vidia leaned forward as well. "You've got a nice laugh." She said.

Clank's face fell. "Thanks…" he still wasn't comfortable with her giving him compliments.

She stood up then. "I'd better get going." She said. "You going to be okay?"

Clank nodded. "Yeah."

"Good." She said. "Oh, but if your chest is still hurting later, you can come talk to my dad about it. I promise I won't come in when your shirt's off."

Clank half smiled. "I'd appreciate it if you'd keep your hands to yourself."

"I'll keep that in mind." Vidia said. "Anyway, I'll see you later." He watched her go, smiling slightly. He then stood up and returned to the locker rooms and changed out of his gear to go home.

The rest of the week was weird. Although that conversation with Vidia had been alright, he still wasn't too comfortable with her. However, she seemed to think they were becoming closer and was slipping back into her old habits. She waited for him at lunch and although she didn't force him to sit at the athletic table, she still followed him to where he decided to sit. She wasn't staring at him in class much, but she did still walk with him on the way to football and he definitely caught her watching him between plays. It was incredibly distracting during practice and he screwed up a number of times. He'd likely be benched for this week's game.

When Friday came he was back to disliking her. That one conversation on Monday was practically forgotten and he was trying to guard himself from her. The team was getting ready to head to the game. Clank was going through his stuff to make sure he had everything. Terence came to see him in the locker room to wish Clank luck on his first game. He said he and Gary would be coming to watch and Clank said he hoped they enjoyed watching him not play.

He found a slip of paper in his locker. All it said was Good Luck. He glanced around the locker room before pocketing the note and headed out with the rest of the team.

Clank only got to play in the fourth quarter, and only because his team was so far ahead that there was no way he could screw things up for them. His team won. It was fantastic, and everyone who made the drive out roared excitedly over their victory. Clank could see Gary and Terence in the crowd as he made his way back to the benches. It was probably the happiest he'd ever seen Gary. He half smiled at them and gave them a wave. He spent the bus ride home texting with Silvermist. Everyone was hyped up, loud and obnoxious. Especially Dozer who had no problem taking much of the credit for the team's victory. Clank ignored it and talked with Sil, saying he'd like to hang out with her soon. He missed seeing her all the time. She reminded him she was still grounded and he suddenly realized tomorrow morning he wouldn't be anymore.

When he made the drive to Gary's house from school he noticed his steering wheel was shaking under his grip. He hadn't noticed it doing that before. He wondered if he should have it looked at, but said nothing to Gary when he went inside. His father was too busy giving him a play by play of the game anyway. When he finally got away he went upstairs and emptied his bag. He found the anonymous good luck note in the bottom and placed it on his desk and went to bed.

Not being grounded didn't have a lot of appeal to Clank. Sure, he had his keys back, but since Silvermist was still grounded he didn't have anywhere he wanted to go. He considered making the drive to see his old friends, but was concerned about the shaking steering wheel.

He spent Saturday out on the driveway with his car. The hood was popped open and he was checking his book from Pidge and the internet about why the wheel could be shaking. He had his nose buried in the book when an out of breath voice greeted him.

"Hey Clank." He looked up to see Vidia, skin glistening with sweat and wearing tiny shorts and a sports bra.

He frowned and looked back at his book. "Hey." He said back.

"Something wrong with your car?" She asked.

"Don't know." He replied, flipping through the pages. "You need something?"

Vidia was breathing kind of hard. "Can I have a glass of water?" Clank looked her over. Her face was red and she seemed really tired.

"Must've been running a long time, huh?" He said and let the hood of his car slam shut. Vidia just nodded, but smiled as she huffed out a few more heavy breaths. "Alright c'mon." He signaled her to follow him.

They stood in the kitchen while she drank down the water. Clank leaned on the counter, watching her. She set the glass down with an "ah…"

"You good?" Clank asked.

"Yeah, thanks." Vidia nodded. She hoisted herself up and sat on the counter. Clank frowned. Apparently Vidia decided to stay a bit longer. "How was the game last night?"

Clank shrugged "it was fine. I didn't get to play much."

She leaned forward and grinned at him. "Keep practicing, I'm sure you'll be a starter before too long."

"I honestly don't know why I'm on the team." Clank said bitterly. "I'm not very good."

"You're just out of practice." Vidia said.

"No." Clank argued. "I played for my old school too and was terrible. My ex even said so once. Said the whole team was terrible."

"Well that's rude. She must be a huge bitch." Vidia said.

"No worse than you." Clank said. He wasn't actually sure who he disliked more between Vidia and Chad.

"I thought you didn't hate me anymore." Vidia frowned.

"I'm still mulling it over." Clank said.

"Got it." Vidia said hopping down from the counter. "Well, I hope you decide you do like me."

"We'll see." Clank said. He led her outside and he went back to his car. She stood beside him for a bit and did some stretches. Clank was watching her out of the corner of his eye. He wondered if she was doing this on purpose, showing off her exposed stomach as she lifted her hands above her head, her long legs as she did a few quick lunges. God, as much as Clank hated to admit it, Vidia was very attractive.

"Alright, I'll see you around." She said. She leaned over to him and kissed his cheek, "thanks for the drink."

Clank's hand flew to his cheek and he turned and watched her run down to the street. He wanted to call out to her, but no words came to mind. He had no idea if he was surprised or angry, but he definitely felt his face heat up. He turned looked back at his car briefly and went back inside, thinking Vidia was just going to be a constant in his life and he might as well get used to it.


	11. Repair Job

Clank's car was still shaking. He had been trying to research it all week to figure out what was wrong. He went to the auto shop a few times to get oil, transmission fluid, and coolant. Nothing he tried helped. In fact his car was shaking worse now. He was researching it further Saturday morning while on the phone with Silvermist.

"Have you found anything yet?" She asked.

Clank sighed heavily. "No. I dunno if I'm just searching for the wrong thing or what."

Silvermist hummed. "Well, I don't really know about cars so I can't really help you."

"I know." Clank sighed. "I'm just frustrated. I don't really want to take it to a shop though since it still runs just fine. But, you know… I don't want it to get any worse."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Sil agreed

"You know who could help you?" Clank jumped at Terence's voice. He walked in and flopped down on Clank's bed.

"Who?" Clank asked.

"Bobble." Terence said. "Tink's brother."

"Yeah, I was thinking that too." Silvermist said. "And you wanted to talk to him, right?"

Clank shrugged. "I dunno. I feel like I'm not gonna get a straight answer out of any of them so…"

"Oh come on." Terence threw Clank's pillow at him. "Forget about what happened to them. They're fine so what does it matter how they got away? Just let Bobble take a look at your car. It's not like you're making much progress on your own."

"Thank you, Terence." Clank said bitterly.

"Terence is right." Silvermist said. "Someone in that family could probably fix your car. They're all pretty handy with tools."

Clank sighed, annoyed. "Fine, whatever. I'll let them take a look."

"Cool!" Terence hopped off the bed. "I'll call Tink and tell her you're coming."

"You sure they can help me?" Clank asked Sil when Terence left the room.

"Absolutely." Sil said. "They can pretty much fix anything."

Clank was still unsure. "If you say so."

"I do. Anyway. I gotta head to work. Maybe we can hang out when you get your car fixed." Sil said.

Clank smiled. "I'd like that."

Not long after he got off the phone with Silvermist, Clank headed to Tink's house. Terence gave him the address and told him to say hi to Tinkerbell for him. It was a shame that Terence was still grounded for another week. Clank probably would have felt more comfortable if he were there too. But he really needed to get his car taken care of, so he would have to go alone.

He pulled up in front of the house, a white two story house that was a little bigger than Gary's, and the first thing that caught his attention was music. Loud music. It was coming from the garage which had the door wide open. Clank followed the music to its source and hesitated outside the garage, covering his ears. In the garage was the old station wagon with its hood popped open. That proved that there was something weird going on. The last time he had seen that car was when the wild man drove off with it. Supposedly Bobble and his sisters had run away that night. Shouldn't that mean the car should be gone?

Under the hood was Bobble with his back to Clank. He was completely oblivious to his presence as he tinkered under the hood. He didn't even notice Clank when he moved away from the car and started climbing the shelves.

Clank awkwardly stepped into the garage and shuffled over to Bobble who grabbed a bottle of oil off the top shelf. "Excuse me?" Clank called up to him. Bobble immediately startled and slipped off the shelves. Clank reacted quickly and caught him before he hit the ground. "I'm sorry! Are you okay?"

"Yeah…" he replied. He reached into his pocket and grabbed a remote and switched off the music. "Nice catch." He got to his feet and brushed himself off. Not that it mattered his pants and tank top were covered in oil stains. "You're Terence's half brother, right?"

Clank nodded. "Yeah."

Bobble smiled wide. "Well it's about damn time!" He grabbed Clank's hand and shook it. "I'm Phineas. Phineas Taylor Kettletree."

Clank stared, surprised for a moment. "Oh, uh. I'm… Clement Garret Boutin?" he cleared his throat. "Um. Nice to meet you… Phineas."

"Likewise, Clement."

"Oh, uh. Call me Clank. Everyone does." Clank shrugged.

"Well then you can call me Bobble." He replied, still grinning.

"Okay." Clank nodded.

"So what brings you here, Clank?" Bobble asked, moving back under the hood "Are you just dropping Terence off?"

"No, I… He's still grounded." Clank said. He watched Bobble work. He wanted to ask why the car was here, but was more fascinated in watching Bobble work so easily on the engine. "Um. He was supposed to call. There's uh. There's a problem with my car… He said you might be able to help me?"

"Of course." Bobble said, not leaving his work for a second. "I'm almost done with this and we can take a look at your car. I assume you drove it here?" He glanced Clank's way with the question.

"Yeah, it's out front." Clank said.

"Great! Just give me a minute here." Bobble said. "What kind of car do you drive?"

Clank hesitated a moment. "A 2010 Toyota Camry."

"How many miles are on it?"

"I… I dunno. I don't remember." Clank fidgeted.

"Well, how long have you had it?" Bobble asked.

"Well my mom got it four years ago." Clank said. Bobble stopped for a moment and looked over his shoulder at Clank. He stared just for a brief moment before turning back to his own car.

"So what's the problem with it?" Bobble asked.

"Well, it's been shaking for about a week now." Clank said. "I've tried putting oil and transmission fluid in, but nothing works."

Bobble stepped back from his car and wiped his hands on his jeans. "It's probably the alignment of your tires." He said. Bobble then fished in his pocket and pulled out his keys. "Could you start the engine for me?"

"Oh, uh… sure." Clank took the keys and went to the driver's seat to start the engine. It sputtered a bit but didn't turn over. Clank tried again with the same result. He was about to try a third time when Bobble called him back over.

"I was sure I had it that time." Bobble said, pocketing his keys again.

"What's wrong with it?" Clank asked.

Bobble let out a heavy sigh. "My mother took some parts from the engine."

"What? Why?" Clank asked.

"It's what she does." Bobble shrugged. "You see, when my sisters and I mess up, she takes apart something of ours and we're grounded until we fix it."

"That's crazy!" Clank exclaimed.

"Aye, it is." Bobble shrugged, but he smiled none the less. "But it does get the point across. Won't catch me blackout drunk again any time soon." Clank nodded. Now would probably be a good time to ask what happened at the party since they were leading towards that topic. "Anyway. Let's take a look at your car."

"Oh, right." Clank led Bobble to the car. He had a big tool box with him which Clank probably should have carried for him. "My mom and I tried to take good care of it, you know? But I'm not exactly a mechanic."

"It's alright, Clank." Bobble said. "It's probably nothing major. Do you have a car jack?"

Clank fetched the jack from the trunk and handed it to Bobble. He jacked the front of the car up and squatted in front of it, staring underneath. Clank wasn't sure what he was doing, but stood to the side as Bobble began making adjustments.

"So, um. That party at the beginning of the year…" Clank started.

Bobble groaned. "You were there?"

"Yeah. I was." He suddenly remembered one thing from that night that all the other trauma had squeezed out over the last three weeks. "I actually ran into you there."

Bobble stopped what he was doing and sat on the curb. "Did you now?" He asked in a defensive tone.

"Yes. Well, you were pretty drunk then. So I guess it makes sense if you don't remember." Clank rubbed the back of his neck. He shouldn't be giving him excuses to not know things when he wanted information from him.

"Did I do something embarrassing?" Bobble asked. Clank clenched his fists a couple times and sat down by Bobble.

"Not exactly." Clank said.

"Are you sure? I already had to return Silvermist's underwear to her, so I'd really like to know if I did something else." Bobble said.

Clank half chuckled. "Well, she told me she just gave you her bra." Bobble groaned again and buried his face in his arms. "You also kind of… were all over her on the floor."

Bobble lifted his head again. "I do sort of remember that. She was passed out and a couple of jerks on the football team were trying to look up her dress. I tried to hold onto her so they couldn't."

Clank smiled, somewhat relieved. "Dieu merci." He breathed. "I'm glad it wasn't something else."

Bobble lay his head on his arms again, staring at Clank. "It must have looked pretty bad to come up with that assumption."

"No! No it's not that… I had just… I mean… I'm sorry." Clank looked away, cursing himself for opening his trap.

To his surprise, Bobble chuckled. "So is that all I did?"

Clank swallowed. "Yeah. That's it." He didn't want to bring up the kissing contest if Bobble didn't remember. It would be too weird.

Bobble got back up. "Well okay then." He moved to the other side of the car and started adjusting the front tire. Clank followed and watched him.

"There was… one thing I was wondering though." Clank asked.

"Aye, what's that?"

"Do you… do you remember how you got home that night?" Clank asked.

Bobble shook his head. "Not really. First thing I can remember after being with Silvermist is throwing up in my bathroom with my uncle telling me how stupid I am."

"Really?" Clank said. "That's kind of harsh…"

"No, it's fine." Bobble sighed. "He was right I was being stupid. Besides, he only ever yells at me when I really deserve it." He pulled the hub cap off the tire and shifted it. "And I can admit… I was truly an idiot that night."

"I think most of us were." Clank shrugged. "I mean, there's a few things I wish had gone differently that night."

"Oh? Like what?" Bobble asked.

Clank grimaced. He wasn't sure if he wanted to tell someone he just met all the terrible things that happened that night. "It's nothing really. I mean, I upset Silvermist… but I apologized and we're good now."

Bobble stood up then, turned and punched Clank in the shoulder. "Ouch!" Clank yelled. "What was that for?"

"Sorry." Bobble said and turned back to Clank's car. "I promised Sil I'd punch the jerk who made her cry."

Clank rubbed his shoulder. "Well… ouch… mission accomplished I guess."

"Aye." Bobble said. "Again, I'm sorry."

"It's okay." Clank said. "I guess I kind of deserved it."

"Mind if I ask what happened?" Bobble asked, putting the hubcap back on.

Clank shrugged. "It's kind of a long story. But I guess the short version is I was going to leave. She got upset and ran off. I left, came back. She was drunk, and it's my fault."

Bobble lowered the car back to the ground. "It's not your fault." He said. "I understand if you wanted to go back home. It can't've been easy moving here. Sil probably didn't realize what you're going through."

"Wait, what? I never said I was going home." Clank said.

"Well, I just figured that's where you were going." Bobble explained. "I'm glad you didn't though. I've been wanting to meet you since you moved here." He smiled at Clank. "Let's see if that fixed it. Give me your keys."

Clank pulled the keys from his pocket and gave them to Bobble. "Wait, what do you mean you've been wanting to meet me?" He climbed into the passenger's seat as Bobble got behind the wheel.

"Exactly what I said. I wanted to meet you." Bobble said. He started the car and began driving around the neighborhood. "Terence told us you were coming, but he didn't tell us about your mother until you got here."

"Oh." Clank stared at his lap. He clenched his fists and tried not to think about it.

"I'm sorry." Bobble said. "It must be hard. How've you been holding up?"

Clank sighed heavily. "Okay I guess. Some days are better than others." He didn't really know what else to say.

Bobble turned a corner "Have you been getting help?" He asked.

"I've been seeing a therapist." Clank admitted. "I think it's helping, but I'm not really sure. Everything still hurts."

"I'd imagine it would. I don't envy your situation at all." Bobble said. He parked the car. "Here, you drive us back and see how she feels."

"Okay." Clank said and switched places with Bobble. "It just isn't fair, you know? We did everything right. We found the tumor and got treatments immediately. She beat cancer. They said it was all gone… then she…" Clank trailed off with a sigh.

"Did she get an infection?" Bobble asked.

"Yeah." Clank nodded. "And with her immune system so weak… she never stood a chance."

Bobble sighed. "I'm sorry Clank. That really sucks."

"Ha. You're telling me." Clank said. He drove back to Bobble's house, noticing that the shaking had stopped. He was amazed, turns out Bobble really did know what he was doing. "I have a question."

"Aye?" Bobble said.

"Well, you said you wanted to meet me… I've been here so long now, you know where I live… why didn't you just come over?" Clank asked.

"Well…" Bobble fidgeted a bit. "I don't really feel comfortable at Terence's... erm… your house."

"Me either. Why don't you?" Clank asked.

Bobble seemed reluctant to answer. "Let's just say I'm not too fond of your father…"

"That makes two of us." Clank said.

"Really? Why don't you like him?" Bobble asked.

"Well, it's just this whole move here has been stressful and he hasn't really made it any easier." Clank said. "I appreciate that he took me it, sure. But if I had been given a choice in the matter I would have move in with my friend Lance. But I had to move in with Gary. And he's been pushing me too hard to get better. I wasn't ready to go see a therapist, but I was here for a week and he dragged me to one." He let out a heavy sigh. "My mother died. Why can't he just let me grieve?"

Bobble pat him on the shoulder. "I'm sorry Clank. He should have let you take your time."

"Yeah, he should have." Clank muttered. "So what's your problem with him?"

"There's a number of things." Bobble said. "I don't like when he flirts with my mom for starters. She's not interested and never will be."

"Oh geez." Clank groaned. "I didn't know he did that."

"His homophobia bothers me too." Bobble grumbled.

"Same here." Clank said. "Lance came to visit for my birthday, and for us it's traditional for him to give whoever's birthday it is a kiss and embarrass the hell out of them." Bobble choked back a laugh, making Clank grin. "But yeah, he did that in front of Gary, and then Gary hated Lance after that."

"Good grief." Bobble said. "I'm so sorry."

Clank sighed. "He'd probably hate me too if he found out that I'm bi."

"Well, I know he's not too fond of me being gay." Bobble shrugged. Clank pulled up in front of Bobble's house. "When Tink and Terence started dating our families went out for dinner together. Your dad asked if I had a girlfriend, and I told him I was into someone on the football team."

"Let me guess, he was cold to you the rest of the night?" Clank asked.

"Aye. And I've never taken too kindly to him since then."

"I don't blame you." Clank said.

Bobble sighed and stared out the window. "How did it feel?"

"How did what feel?" Clank asked.

"The car. Was it better?" Bobble asked.

Clank had nearly forgotten why he'd been there in the first place. "Yeah, actually. It felt a lot better. Thank you."

Bobble smiled. "You're welcome."

Clank reached for his wallet. "How much do I owe you?"

"Nothing." Bobble said. "It's on me."

"Are you sure?" Clank asked, stunned. "I don't mind paying."

Bobble unbuckled his seatbelt. "I won't accept any money from you Clank. Just think of it as getting help from a friend."

Clank shoved his wallet back into his pocket. "Wow… okay, thank you."

"You're welcome." Bobble said again. "Do you want to come inside for a bit?"

Clank smiled. "Sure."

Bobble led him inside. The house opened up to a large room. There was a dining table by the front door and further into the room were a couch and two large chairs arranged around a television. The kitchen was just around the corner. It was small, but comfortable. Bobble crossed the living room to a hallway and Clank followed. There was a stair case at the end of he hallway and Bobble headed to it.

"Hey, is anyone else here?" Clank asked as they started up the stairs.

"No." Bobble answered. "Peri went skating with her friends and my mom took Tink to volleyball practice."

"I thought you were all grounded." Clank said.

"No, just me." Bobble said. "Periwinkle didn't get grounded and Tink fixed her radio last weekend, so she's off the hook now."

"That's a really weird system." Clank said.

"Aye, but it works." Bobble said. "Anyway, this is my room." He pushed open a door. The room was a mess. Clothes scattered the floor and there were various books littered around the room. "Sorry for the mess." Bobble said.

"It's okay." Clank said, wandering the room. There was a desk by the window. A cage sat on it. Clank went to look inside and a little gray mouse was curled up in the bedding. Clank grinned and Bobble opened the cage and picked up the mouse.

"This is Cheese." He said, handing the mouse to Clank. "My uncle gave him to me for my birthday last year."

"He's cute." Clank said, gently petting the mouse with one finger. Bobble went around his room and was picking up clothes while Clank continued to look around. On top of Bobble's dresser were a bunch of metal models. There was a carousel, a tank, a plane, a pirate ship and what caught Clank's attention was a fighter space ship. "These are cool. I have a few myself."

"I love those." Bobble said. "My mom gave me these three for my birthday." Bobble pointed to the tank, pirate ship and fighter ship.

"When was your birthday?" Clank asked.

"It was Wednesday." Bobble said returning to his cleaning.

"Oh, happy birthday." Clank said.

"Thank you," Bobble said. "I'm going to change into something a little less disgusting, do you mind waiting in the living room?"

"Sure." Clank said. He put Cheese back in his cage and went back downstairs. He thought Bobble was really cool and was glad to have finally met him. He thought back to the party and how he had kissed him when he was drunk and how that moment had almost convinced him to stay. And now that he had finally met him he really did think Bobble was a great person. He never did figure out what happened with those two men at the end of the party, but Clank was starting to not care anymore. Bobble and his sisters were safe, so what else mattered?

Clank relaxed on the couch and waited for Bobble. He wanted to repay him for fixing his car and pondered how he could do so. He thought maybe he could help get Bobble's car fixed, but wasn't sure how much help he would actually be. He figured he might offer anyway and if he wasn't helpful he could at least learn from Bobble about how to fix cars.

He heard an engine stop outside. Bobble's mom and sisters must be home. Clank looked over to the door, happy to see Tink and Peri again and eager to meet this mother who sounded like an interesting lady. He heard a voice approaching. A male voice. Bobble had mentioned an uncle. Maybe it was him? Who was he talking to? Clank stood up. Ready to meet whoever came inside.

"I'm tellin' ya. I don't know what happened but it ain't workin' anymore! See look!" The voice sounded oddly familiar to Clank. There was a low grumble that followed. The front door pushed open. "Anyone home?"

Clank forgot to breathe. All he could do was stare as two men entered the house. One thin and scrawny with patchy blond hair, the other built like a mountain and just as big with a gas mask covering the lower half of his face. The larger man nudged the other and gestured to Clank.

Clank stared, frozen in fear. His heart raced and flashes of those two carrying Bobble and his sisters away swam through his mind. They both stepped closer to him, but Clank was rooted to the spot, wide eyed and on the verge of hyperventilating. The skinny man was right in front of him, looming over him, with a cocked eyebrow. "Who're you?" he asked.

Clank screamed.


	12. Strange Family

**Couple things about this chapter. 1) it's gonna be a weird one. We have that strange cameo again. 2) there really truly is a reason behind this weirdness. See end of chapter for more comments.**

* * *

The thin man flailed and stumbled backward into the large man. At the same time Clank tried to take a step backward and fell back on the floor. He had no idea what was happening, just that he feared for his life. He thought he heard someone call his name. He tried to shield himself. He scrambled backwards, trying to put distance between himself and the two men. His pulse pounded so loud he could barely hear anything besides his own screaming. Bobble appeared next to the men, panic written all over his face. The thin man threw his arm around Bobble who pushed him off immediately and dropped to his knees in front of Clank and grabbed his shoulders.

He was shouting. Clank tried to focus on what Bobble was saying. Bobble moved his hands to hold either side of Clank's face. Clank stared into his face, unable to breathe properly, constantly glancing behind Bobble at the two who still stood there. Clank felt Bobble's hands clench on either side of his face, bringing his focus back to him. He grabbed both of Bobble's hands and squeezed his eyes shut. Clank felt himself being pulled forward until his forehead leaned against a bony shoulder. He threw his arms around Bobble and held him, shaking. Bobble gently stroked his hair, softly shushing him. Clank squeezed tightly, feeling hot tears streak down his face.

"It's okay." Bobble whispered. "Clank, it's okay. Don't be scared. They won't hurt you."

"Qui sont-ils?" Clank asked, panicked. "Que se passe-t-il?"

Bobble bit his lip and looked over his shoulder at the men. The thin one cleared his throat. "He asked who we are and what's going on."

Clank jerked his head up. As soon as his eyes landed on them he felt himself get worked up again. "Clank! Clank, calm down." Bobble said, rubbing his back.

"We can come back later." The giant rumbled. Clank flinched again.

"But what about my hand?" The thin one asked.

"Later." The giant grunted.

The thin man gave an overdramatic sigh. "Fine." He looked down at Clank. "Sorry I scared ya kid." He then looked at Bobble. "See ya later Filly."

"Bye Uncle Jamie." Bobble replied.

 _Uncle Jamie?_ Clank looked at Bobble, then at the men now heading for the front door. "W-wait… Wait." He managed to say. The giant stopped the thinner man and they turned around. "He's… your uncle?" Bobble nodded and Clank exhaled. "Quelle gueule?"

Bobble helped Clank to his feet. He was still panting from the anxiety, but was starting to settle down. "You okay?" Bobble asked.

"I think so." Clank said. He couldn't tear his gaze away from Bobble's uncle.

Bobble kept a hand on Clank's shoulder and gestured to the thin man. "Clank, this is my Uncle Jamie."

"Great ta meet ya!" Jamie extended his left hand. Clank just stared at it. "Right, right. Yer terrified of me." He started to withdraw his hand, but Clank shakily extended his own hand and shook Jamie's.

"And this." Bobble gestured to the giant. "Is my grandpa Mako."

He didn't extend his hand to Clank and merely nodded. Clank gave a small wave and swallowed hard. "Grandpa?"

"Not really." The man grunted through the mask.

Clank looked to Bobble for an explanation.

"They're really close family friends." Bobble said. "We've known them all my life and they've always been there for us."

"Phin." Mako said. Bobble looked up at him. "Where's your mom?"

"She took Tink to practice." Bobble answered. "She should be home soon."

"Good. Because I need her to take a look at this." Jamie held up his right arm. It was made of metal from the elbow down and the hand dangled loosely at the wrist. "Can't get the hand to move."

"Here, let me take a look at it." Bobble reached for the arm and detached it from Jamie. He moved to the table by the front door and sat down. Clank stared at Mako and Jamie for a moment longer before quickly following Bobble.

"I'm really sorry about this." Bobble said quietly when Clank sat beside him. "I wasn't expecting them to show up today."

"Who are they, really?" Clank asked. "I saw them at the end of the party. They carried you and your sisters away. Terence and I were terrified. We thought you'd be killed. So what the hell is going on?"

Bobble started opening up the metal arm. "Was he wearing the pig mask?"

"Yeah, and complaining about being old." Jamie said, now right behind Clank, making him nearly jump out of his skin.

"I am old" Mako commented from the couch, now switching on the television.

"To answer your question Clank, have you ever heard of the Junkers?" Bobble asked.

"Two crazed destructive men who are wanted across the globe? Yeah, I heard of them. They haven't been in the news for about ten years though." Clank said.

"That's us!" Jamie said proudly.

" _What?_ " Clank quickly moved away from Jamie again, putting Bobble between the two of them.

"It _was_ us." Mako corrected.

"It still could be!" Jamie argued "if you would get off yer fat ass and help me pull a job again!"

"I'm too old, Jamison." Mako said, not turning away from the television. Jamie turned and limped over to Mako and sat on his knee and started bickering with him about age.

Clank turned back to Bobble. He had even more questions now than he did before. "So you're family friends with nationally wanted criminals."

"To put it bluntly, yes." Bobble nodded. "Mom was friends with them before I came around and they took us in when we were flat broke and had nowhere to go. If it weren't for them, there's a high chance that I wouldn't be here right now."

Another engine stopped out front, followed by the closing of car doors. Clank hoped it was Bobble's mom and sisters and not some other terrifying family friend. There were hurried footsteps and the front door swung open. Peri ran past with a smile on her face. "Grandpa!" She yelled and threw her arms around Mako's neck.

"Hey snowflake." He replied and hugged her back. Tink came inside a second later with volleyball gear under her arm. She immediately dropped it when Jamie grabbed her from behind yelling "surprise!"

"Uncle Jamie!" She said, smiling wide.

"How ya doin' Stinkerbell?" He hugged her tight as Tink laughed.

"Great!" She said, "where's your arm?"

"I have it." Bobble said, not looking up from his work.

"Did it break again?" Peri asked, letting go of Mako.

"Yeah. Not sure what I did this time." Jamie said sheepishly.

"Probably something reckless as usual." A woman who must have been the mother walked in then. She was shorter than Tink and Peri and was thick bodied. Clank thought she looked familiar somehow, but in all the confusion he couldn't place where he'd seen her before.

"You're not wrong." Mako grunted.

Jamie released Tink then and threw his arm around the mother instead. "Mary, who the hell is this?" He asked gesturing to Clank. "You adopt another kid? Ain't three enough?"

The mother's eyes fell on Clank then. She looked from him to Bobble and back to him. "I don't believe I've met him actually."

"Mom, this is Clank." Tink said. Clank was a little surprised that she introduced him instead of Bobble, but he was still focused on the arm and was apparently drowning out the chaos behind him. "We've told you about him. He's Terence's brother."

Mary's face melted into what looked like a mix between sympathy and understanding. She went to Clank and hugged him. "Hello dear, it's nice to finally meet you. I'm so sorry about your mother."

Clank had no idea how to respond. He just hugged her back silently. She stepped back, still holding his shoulders. "If there's anything we can do to help you, just let us know."

"Thank you." Clank said awkwardly.

She pat his arm and turned to Bobble. "Phineas, let me work on that." She pushed Bobble back and took the arm from him. Bobble groaned in protest.

"Filly, don't be rude. Go play with yer friend."Jamie said.

Bobble bit his lip. "Right, I'm sorry Clank. Come on." He led Clank away from the table and into the living room by Mako. Clank sat as far from him as possible, still too shocked to know what else to do.

"I guess the 'we ran away at the gas station' story isn't going to work anymore." Peri said, sitting beside Mako who seemed to have very little interest in anything going on around him. Clank shook his head.

Tink shrugged. "We might as well tell him."

Bobble and Peri both nodded. "You see Clank, when the party got too out of hand, I called Grandpa and asked him to come get me." Peri started.

"I was too busy spending time with Terence that I didn't know there was a problem." Tink said.

"I was drunk." Bobble sighed. "But you already knew that." Clank just nodded.

"Anyway, so I called Grandpa." Peri said again.

"You woke me up." Mako interrupted.

Peri glared at him. "I called him to come get me. He and uncle Jamie apparently decided to show up in full junker gear to come break up the party and bring us home."

"We had to go back the next day to clean up the wreckage." Tink said. "Otherwise grandpa Dewey would've killed us."

"Except Peri, being 'the good one' got out of cleaning and got to go get ice cream instead." Bobble said. He playfully nudged Peri.

"So anyway, that's what happened." Peri said.

"You understand right, Clank?" Bobble asked carefully.

Clank swallowed and nodded. He ran his fingers through his hair. His breath quickened. He nodded again and chuckled. "No." He said. "No…. no no no no NO! I absolutely do not understand!" Every single eye was on him then.

"Clank, calm down." Bobble said, reaching for him. Clank pushed his hand away and jumped to his feet.

"Don't tell me to calm down! You expect me to be okay with this? With any of this?" Clank yelled. "You know what these two have done? They're dangerous! They're… _evil!_ They've destroyed homes! Lives! They should be in prison and you're telling me they're just normal family members to you?"

"Clank, please listen." Mary tried to interrupt.

"No!" Clank shouted. "No, absolutely not! I refuse to believe there's a good reason for this! You're harboring criminals! Oh mon Dieu… my brother… my brother is dating you." His eyes fell on Tinkerbell who shrank back. Then his eyes fell on Bobble. "Oh mon Dieu! Je t'embrassais!"

He pressed his palms to his temples. He was nearly hyperventilating once again. A hand dropped on his shoulder. He jumped and pushed back whoever it was. "Don't touch me!" He screamed and bolted for the front door.

"Clank wait!" Someone shouted after him. He tore open the door and ran for his car. Hands shaking, he grabbed his keys and managed to unlock the door. He climbed inside and started the car but before he could drive off Bobble ran in front of him and slammed his hands on the hood. "Stop!" He yelled.

"Get out of the way!" Clank yelled back.

"Clank, you're in no condition to drive! Get out of the car!" Bobble pleaded.

" _Move!_ " Clank yelled. He threw the car in drive, but Bobble didn't budge.

"I'm not moving!" Bobble yelled back. There was other shouting but Clank couldn't make it out. His breathing was heavy and his ears were ringing. The only thing he could see was Bobble. He held his stare with deep concern in his eyes.

"God damn it! Move!" Clank shouted. Everything blurred together in an instant. In the time it took for Clank to move his foot from the brake to the accelerator, a large hand grabbed the boy out from in front of the car. Clank slammed on the gas. The tires screeched and he sped off.

Clank was so freaked out that he didn't even know where he was driving. He wanted to scream. In fact, he was screaming off and on. Nothing made sense. He kept seeing images in his head of those two carrying the siblings away. It was all a hoax. It was all fake. They were in on it. They were just as bad. Clank gasped and slammed on the brakes. Somehow he was back in front of Gary's house. He was panting, sweating and shaking. He killed the engine and scrambled out of the car, running for the front door.

"Clank? What's wrong?" Gary asked when Clank burst through the door.

"Terence… where's Terence?" Clank panted.

"He's in his room, what's – hey! Clank!" Gary shouted after Clank as he ran up the stairs.

Clank threw Terence's door open, his brother immediately looked at him. "He's fine, he just got home." Terence said. He was on the phone.

"Who is that?" Clank asked.

"It's Bobble, why?" Terence asked. Clank grabbed the phone from Terence and hung up. "Hey! Clank, what's going on?"

"You need to break up with Tinkerbell." Clank said.

"I… what?" Terence stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Terence, please. You have to break up with her. Please!" Clank begged. "Just stay away from her."

"Clank, what has gotten into you?" Terence asked.

"Yes, you're acting crazy." Gary agreed, appearing behind Clank.

"Gary…" Clank turned to him now. "Gary, make him break up with Tink. Please. He can't go near her. And… and you need to stay away from her mom."

"Clement." Gary said, firmly grasping his shoulder. Clank's words caught in his throat as he stared up at his father. "I think you need to calm down."

"But!"

"Listen to me." Gary said calmly. "Go to your room and try to calm down. We can talk when you're thinking rationally."

"Gary you don't understand!" Clank blurted out. "They…! That whole family…"

"Clement." Gary cut him off. "Take a moment. Just… Go sit down."

Clank stared at him, every breath he took trembled. He shouldered past Gary and slammed his bedroom door. He huddle up in the corner of his bed, hugging his knees to his chest. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to hold back tears and screams that built up inside him.

Nearly three hours had passed by the time Clank had finally managed to calm himself enough to get out of his bed. He grabbed his phone, intending to call Lance and talk things over with him. Lance would probably tell him to come to his house as soon as possible, and Clank wished that's what he had done in the first place.

Clank didn't dial Lance though. He had ten text messages and four missed calls from a number he didn't recognize. He swallowed and unlocked his phone to read the texts.

 **I'm sorry.**

 **We didn't know they were coming.**

 **Please call me.**

 **I want to explain.**

 **Clank please answer the phone.**

 **I know this is you. Terence gave me your number.**

 **Answer me!**

 **…** **this is Bobble by the way.**

 **Look, I'm sorry for this afternoon. I know my uncles can be rather shocking. Please, Clank. They aren't as bad as they seem. Please call me.**

 **I'm sorry.**

Clank dropped his phone and pressed his palms to the sides of his head. This was all insane. Absolutely, positively insane. And how did nobody else know about this? Unless… Clank swallowed. Everyone was in on this. Everybody knew. They all knew. They had to. They were all covering up for those criminals. Clank wanted to scream again but his thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

Clank shuffled off of his bed. It had to be Terence. If it had been Gary, he would have just come in without knocking. Clank pulled open the door and jumped in surprise at the red head standing there.

"Hey." Bobble said, giving a slight wave. "Um… May I talk to you?" Clank's hands trembled on the door knob. He looked behind Bobble and down the hall, then back at him. "It's just me. No one came with me." Bobble said.

Clank nodded and stepped aside, allowing Bobble to enter. He shut the door behind Bobble and went to resume sitting on his bed. Bobble sat down on the bed as well on the opposite end. He crossed his legs and faced Clank, folding his hands in his lap. His right hand had a bandage wrapped around it and his clothes were once again covered in grease stains.

"Clank, I'm really sorry about this afternoon." Bobble said. He waited for Clank to respond, and when he didn't he continued. "I know my family isn't… normal. And I know my uncles have an unsavory past, and we don't condone any of the terrible things they've done, but they really are decent people if you get to know them. Not that you'd want to get to know them… I'm just saying…" Bobble sighed heavily. Clank still said nothing.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is… You've already had to deal with so much. You really shouldn't have to add the weird garbage that is my family to the list." Bobble explained. "I was really hoping you and I could be friends. I guess that's screwed up now though isn't it?"

Clank wanted to say something, but had no idea what to say. Bobble chuckled and shook his head. "It's okay." He reached out and took Clank's hand and gave it a squeeze. "I just wanted to make sure you were alright. That's all I really care about right now." Bobble released Clank's hand and stood. He headed for the door and Clank watched him go.

"I'm sorry."

Bobble turned around. "What?"

"I said I'm sorry." Clank repeated.

"For what? You didn't do anything." Bobble said, rocking on his heels.

"I was so freaked out earlier that I just about ran you over." Clank said. "You could've died. I'm sorry."

Bobble grinned and laughed quietly. "Hey, don't worry about that. If I were you I'd have run me over too."

Clank folded his arms over his knees and rested his chin on them. "How come you're so calm about that?"

Bobble shrugged "I dunno, it's just the way I was raised I guess." He rubbed his left arm, glancing to the side. "That's one benefit of growing up with… them. You're not really scared of many things. Granted, my mother taught me to stand up for myself too."

"I really don't get this. Why are they friends with your family? Is… Is the skinny one your dad or something?" Clank asked.

Bobble laughed loudly. "Oh goodness no! Definitely not. He can't exactly... impregnate a woman. Not that he'd ever want to." He sheepishly ran his hand through his hair. "He and Mako are more than just partners in crime."

Clank lifted his head a little. "They're a couple?"

"Aye." Bobble said, sitting back down on the bed. "Married and everything. Probably not legally though."

Clank sighed. "That's not surprising."

"I'm sorry." Bobble said. "We don't have to talk about them if they make you uncomfortable."

Clank nodded. "It's a lot to take in all at once. I mean, I wanted to know what happened back at that party but hell… I wasn't expecting _that_."

"I'd be shocked if you did expect it." Bobble said. "Tink's tried to get some of our friends to meet them at the junkyard once or twice. But other than that we try not to let people know about them. It's not that we're embarrassed by them, but we don't want reactions like…"

"Like mine?" Clank asked.

"Aye… like yours." Bobble confirmed.

"So what did your other friends think of them?" Clank asked.

"Well, they never met them. Even though people don't seem to recognize them, they're still the scary junk yard owners." Bobble gave an awkward chuckle.

Clank's eyes fell on Bobble's bandaged hand. "I didn't do that, did I?"

"What, this?" Bobble held up his hand. "No, this happened after you left. Went back to work on Spencer and cut my hand."

"Spencer?"

"My car." Bobble clarified. "Finally got the damn thing running."

"Oh." Clank said. He was actually a little disappointed that he didn't get to help with that, but it's not like he would have asked after this afternoon. "Well. Good, I'm glad."

Bobble smiled. "I probably should have put on some clean clothes before coming over, but I was really worried about you."

"It's fine. Don't worry about it." Clank said. He relaxed a bit and leaned against the wall. "Thanks for checking on me, but I thought you didn't like coming here."

"I don't." Bobble admitted. "But it was important to me to make sure you were alright. Would have been easier if you'd just answered your phone." Bobble gave him a little smirk then.

"Oh." Clank grabbed his phone. "Sorry, I just saw that you'd been calling me."

Bobble laughed. "If you say so. I figured you were just ignoring me. Not that I'd blame you."

Clank smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, it has been a weird day for me."

"I'd imagine so." Bobble said. "Oh, by the way. Was your car still okay on the drive here?"

"I uh…" Clank clenched his fists a couple of times. "I was a little too out of it to notice."

Bobble hummed and hopped up. "That makes sense. Just let me know how it's doing. If there's any other problems I can fix it up for you." He started wandering the room, eying Clank's things.

"Maybe you could teach me how to fix it myself." Clank suggested.

"I could do that." Bobble said, looking over the books on Clank's shelf. He pulled down the binder Hunk had given him and flipped through it. "You cook?"

Clank shrugged. "I can. I'm not nearly as good as my friend Hunk, but I can follow a recipe just fine."

"I can't cook at all. My sisters banned me from the kitchen." Bobble said as he flipped through the pages, grinning wider and wider with every dish he saw. "These all look delicious."

"Do… you want me to cook you something?" Clank asked.

"Yes!" Bobble said immediately. He flipped back a few pages and handed the binder to Clank. "Can you make this?" It was a recipe for stuffed garlic chicken.

"Yeah, I can make that." Clank said. Bobble smiled at him eagerly. "Wait, you mean now?"

Bobble nodded. "I mean, unless you don't want to right now."

"Well…" Clank scratched the back of his head, looking the page over. "I mean, I could, but I have to make a grocery store run first."

"I'm fine with that." Bobble said. "I'll even pay!"

"No." Clank said. "You're not gonna pay. You already fixed my car, this'll be my payment."

Bobble laughed. "Fair enough. But I'm driving."

They headed out, recipe book in hand. Bobble's car had a bunch of empty fast food containers crumbled on the floor of the passenger's seat. It didn't bother Clank too much, but it did take up some leg room. Loud rock music blasted from the speakers as soon as Bobble started the car and Clank had to cover his ears quickly.

"Sorry." Bobble said, turning the sound down. "Not an A7X fan?"

"Not really my cup of tea, no." Clank said.

"Well, you can put something else on if you want." Bobble said, tossing him his iPod. He had the same model as Clank only his was black instead of green. Clank spent several minutes scrolling through, not finding anything that particularly caught his interest so he just left the music alone. He didn't have to listen long as Bobble made it to the supermarket in what had to be record time.

"You want me to make anything else, or just the chicken?" Clank asked.

Bobble flipped through the book again. "Clank, I'd ask you to make everything in this book if it weren't such a ridiculous request."

Clank snorted. "Well, maybe not the whole book at once, but I could make a couple more things if you want. Desserts are in the back."

Bobble beamed and immediately turned to the back pages. They made their way through the isles, filling their basket with ingredients for the chicken, herb bread, dip, and a custard pie.

When they checked out, Bobble insisted on paying for at least half of what they got since it ended up being more than originally intended. "We'll probably have leftovers." Clank said. "I dunno if Gary or Terence will eat this much."

"Oh. Um…" Bobble stammered as he loaded the groceries into his car. "Actually I was wondering if we could go back to my house."

"Your house…?" Clank asked, chewing his lip nervously.

"My uncles should be gone. I know they really freaked you out, but I swear they're not that bad." Bobble said. "Besides, we have more mouths to feed at my house."

"You only have one more person at your house than I have at Gary's" Clank laughed.

"Aye, but that's still more isn't it?" Bobble said, smiling. "Tell you what. Let's go to my house, and if Uncle Jamie and Mako are still there we can go back to yours."

"Deal." Clank said. He climbed into Bobble's car and braced himself for the loud music. Bobble was considerate enough to turn it down before the sound blasted from the speakers. "I am looking forward to meeting your mom though."

"Aye, she's a tough lady." Bobble said, with a smile. "Honestly she's probably more scary than uncle Jamie."

Clank laughed. "She's so tiny though!"

"Aye, and tiny people are terrifying." Bobble said. "You _have_ met Tink, right?"

Clank tried to choke back a laugh. He and Bobble made their way to the Kettletree home and parked on the driveway. There was an old rusty blue truck in the garage where Bobble's car had been earlier. Clank guessed it must be his mother's truck. Clank took notice of the chopper out front and gave a nervous look to Bobble.

"Let me just see if they're on their way out." Bobble said, guessing Clank's worries. He got out of the car and Clank did as well. The front door opened before they got all the groceries out and the men who were apparently Bobble's family stepped out. Jamison was still missing his arm and yelling over his shoulder inside.

"So we can come pick it up tomorrow, yeah?" Jamie yelled. There was a yes yelled from inside and Jamie turned with a smile, his eyes fell on Bobble. "Filly! Ya found yer shy little friend!"

"Aye, but he's still a little…" Bobble trailed off.

"Terrified?" The giant man supplied.

"What? Ain't no reason to be scared of us, right Hoggy?" Jamison asked. He took a step toward Clank, who froze up again. "Hey kid. Ya ain't got a thing to worry about. Any friend of Filly's is a friend of mine."

"Jamison." Mako grunted behind him.

"What?" He took a good look at Clank, then backed off. "Anyway. We best be off 'afore anyone comes pickin' through our trash again." He pulled Bobble into a hug then and ruffled his hair with his stump arm. "Be good Filly. I'll see ya later." He hobbled off toward the bike.

Mako pat Bobble's shoulder. "Later Phin." he was about to walk off before glancing at Clank. "Sorry for your loss, kid."

Clank swallowed. "Um… thank you." The man nodded and followed to the bike. Bobble ushered Clank inside before the other two even left the street.

"I'm home!" Bobble announced, making a beeline for the kitchen to set down groceries.

"Bobble get out of the kitchen!" Peri said from in front of the television. She was typing on a laptop and appeared to be very focused.

"I'm just dropping off groceries!" Bobble said, coming back out to the living room. "And be nice, Clank is here too."

Peri looked up from her work. "Clank! Glad you're back! Are you doing alright?"

Clank nodded shakily. He had been doing better but was now a little weirded out at seeing the relatives again. "Better I guess."

"We were all really worried." Peri said. She got up and gave Clank a hug. "Uncle Jamie feels really bad about freaking you out."

"Not as bad as Mako feels." Mary said. Clank jumped, he hadn't even noticed her at the table. She and Tink were there, the arm was in pieces on the table in front of them. "Can I get you anything, dear?"

Clank shook his head. "No actually… I'm… I came over to make dinner?"

Mary looked puzzled. "Dinner? Why?"

Bobble held out Clank's cookbook. "Look at all these recipes mom." He said. "Clank's gonna make stuffed chicken breasts."

"Oh, Clank, you don't have to do that." Mary said.

"I don't mind." Clank shrugged. "It's the least I can do after Bobble fixed my car. And I kinda feel bad for how I ran off earlier."

"You did nearly kill my brother." Tink said.

"Tink!" Bobble swatted her shoulder.

"No, it's okay." Clank said. "I did do that, and I'm sorry."

Bobble grabbed Clank's arm and dragged him off to the kitchen. "You don't have to apologize for that."

"Are you sure?" Clank asked.

"I'm sure." Bobble said. "So let's just forget that happened, alright?"

Clank couldn't help but smile. "Alright." They started unbagging the groceries and Clank pulled the recipes he planned on using from the binder and laid them on the counter. "You want to help me?"

Bobble was about to answer when one of his sisters yelled from the living room. "If Bobble touches any of that it's going to be drowned in salt!"

The other sister yelled also. "Don't trust him Clank! Don't even let him hold a spoon!"

"Oh ha ha!" Bobble yelled out into the living room. "Why don't you two mind your own business!"

Clank chuckled. "You weren't kidding about them."

Bobble heaved an exasperated sigh. "No, I wasn't. But they're right. I'm a terrible cook."

Clank grinned. "Well, c'mere. I'll teach you. We can start with the herb bread."

For the next few hours, Clank and Bobble worked in the kitchen. Clank carefully walked Bobble through each recipe as they prepared them. He did most of the work himself, but he did allow Bobble to get his hands on the ingredients here and there. While the bread and chicken were baking, Bobble started to read over the instructions for the pie and the dip. Clank was startled by his phone ringing.

Clank answered. "Hello?"

"Clank, where are you? Are you alright?" Gary asked.

Clank relaxed a little. "I'm fine. I'm at Bobble's house."

"Bobble's house?" Gary asked incredulously.

"Yeah." Clank said. Bobble was watching him curiously.

"Weren't you yelling and screaming about staying away from his family earlier?" Gary asked.

"Well, yeah. But-"

"And how did you even get there? Your car is still here." Gary said.

Clank furrowed his brow. "Bobble gave me a ride when he came over."

"When was he here?" Gary demanded. Bobble covered his mouth, choking back a laugh.

"I dunno, earlier? Didn't you let him in?" Clank asked. Bobble was turning red in the face and he left the kitchen.

"No… Terence! Did you let Tinkerbell's brother in earlier?" Gary said, "he said he didn't."

Clank pulled the phone from his face. "Bobble! Did anyone let you in when you came over before?" He was answered by a roar of laughter. Clank turned his attention back to the phone. "I guess he just let himself inside?"

Gary gave an exasperated sigh. "Okay, I'm coming to get you."

"No, you don't have to." Clank said. "They asked me to have dinner with them… to um… to make up for upsetting me earlier."

"Really?" Gary seemed to mull that over. "When will you be coming home?"

Clank shrugged. "I dunno. The food is still cooking, so I think it'll be a while yet."

"Okay." Gary said with a sigh. "You're sure you're alright? I can come pick you up if you need me to."

"I'm fine Gary." Clank said. "I'll be back later."

Bobble returned just as Clank said his goodbyes and hung up. He was still trying to stop laughing and went back to looking over the recipes as if nothing had happened.

"So you just… came inside?" Clank asked.

Bobble nodded, grinning "is that weird?"

"A little bit, yeah." Clank said with a bit of a chuckle. "Gary bothers you that much, huh?"

Bobble shrugged. "I didn't even think about it really. But hey, if I got to avoid your father then I'm okay with it."

Clank laughed. "You're really weird."

"Oh, you don't know the half of it." Bobble said. Clank smiled and grabbed the dip recipe and the two of them got back to work.

When everything was done, the boys brought everything out to the dining room table. They had cut up apples and pears for the dip and laid out the bread in slices. Everything smelled amazing. Bobble set the table and his mom and sisters soon joined them.

"Wow!" Peri exclaimed. "It all looks great!"

"Don't forget, Bobble helped with it. It might be poisoned." Tink teased.

"I only poisoned your piece, Tink." Bobble said. They shoved each other a couple of times, laughing as they did. Clank couldn't help but chuckle.

"Do you guys always tease each other like that?" Clank asked.

"Every day." Bobble said. "Because these two are nothing but trouble!" He threw his arms around Tink and tugged her into a tight hug.

Peri grabbed him from behind. "Look who's talking! There's a reason you and uncle Jamie get along so well!"

Tink turned around in Bobble's arms and squeezed him along with Peri. "Yeah, you both give Mom and Grandpa Mako migraines."

Bobble gasped a bit and tapped both his sisters' shoulders quickly. "Too tight!" They let him go and the three of them started laughing.

"Alright you three if you're quite done messing around, I'd like to try your friend's cooking." Mary said. Her kids and Clank all sat around the table and began serving themselves. Clank hoped everything had come out alright. He hadn't cooked anything in a long time; not since Chloe died. He waited to start eating until everyone else had taken at least one bite.

Bobble was the first to react. "Holy… this is delicious!" He said, mouth full.

"Yeah, it's really great!" Tink agreed. "Terence never told us you could cook."

Clank shrugged "probably because he doesn't know. I don't cook there."

"Why not?" Peri asked.

Clank shrugged, "I dunno. I just don't."

"Well, if it was a confidence thing, then don't let that bother you dear," Mary said with a smile. "Everything tastes wonderful."

They ate every last thing Clank and Bobble had made together. Bobble had at least two helpings of everything and Clank wondered how he managed to put away that much food.

"Alright, girls since Phineas and Clank made supper, you two clear the table." Mary said. She got up and headed to the kitchen, and Tink and Peri started to clear the dishes. Bobble leaned back in his chair and rubbed his stomach with a content sigh.

"So Clank," Peri started, "are you dating anyone?"

Clank noticed Bobble tense up then. He shook his head. "No, why?"

Peri grinned suspiciously. "Well, you're so sweet, handsome, and a darn good cook, it's just a wonder nobody's snatched you up yet."

Clank's brow furrowed, thinking of Vidia. Sil even crossed his mind too. He wanted to say he wasn't looking for a relationship and turn Peri down right there, but she kept talking before he had the chance. "I think you'd be a great boyfriend for Bobble."

"Okay! That's enough!" Bobble shouted, jumping to his feet. Tink was laughing behind him as he ushered Peri to the kitchen with her stack of dishes. Clank felt his face heat up and stared down at his lap.

"She's right though!" Tink shouted, directing the comment more at her brother than at Clank. "And he can keep you fed! C'mon Bobble! You know if you don't marry someone who can cook, you're gonna starve!"

"Shut it!" Bobble shouted, coming back into the dining room with his face red. "Just…! Just… Go help mom with the dishes!" he stammered. He grabbed Clank by the wrist, surprising him, and dragged him away from the table.

"Where are you going?" Tink asked.

Bobble shot a glare at her and kept walking. "Oh, I don't know. I thought maybe I'd take my _boyfriend_ upstairs and make sweet love to him all night!" he said sarcastically. "Why don't you mind your own business, Stinkerbell?"

"Use protection!" Peri yelled from the kitchen. Bobble groaned loudly and Clank could hear Mary scolding her daughters as Bobble led him upstairs. Bobble slammed his bedroom door and threw himself down on his bed in a huff. Clank stood in the middle of his room awkwardly and very unsure what he should do or say at this grabbed his pillow and covered his face with it and screamed.

"Should… Should I leave?" Clank asked.

Bobble sat up, tossing the pillow aside. "What? No, it's fine. They love to embarrass me. Just… ignore all that, okay?"

Clank nodded. "Yeah, okay. Sure."

Bobble flopped back on the bed and held his stomach and groaned. "I think I ate too much."

"You did eat a lot…" Clank agreed.

"Your fault. You made the food too good." Bobble accused, making Clank laugh. Bobble rolled to his stomach and reached under his bed. "Do you wanna watch a movie?" he asked, pulling a laptop from under his bed.

"Sure, I guess so." Clank said. Bobble scooted over against the wall to make room. Clank sat beside him, crossing his legs while Bobble pulled up a movie for them.

"I mean, you don't need to be back at Gary's right away, do you?" Bobble asked.

"No, I don't think so." Clank shrugged.

"Great. Have you ever seen Saving Grace?" Bobble asked. Clank shook his head. "Oh, it's hilarious. You'll love it." He started the movie. It was about a woman who had to pay off her late husband's debts and tried to do so by growing weed. It was a weird plot, but led to some interesting movie antics. As the film went on, Clank allowed himself to get more comfortable, lying on his stomach beside Bobble. The two of them chatted a bit and laughed at the movie. About half way through, Mary brought them both big bowls of ice cream. Bobble managed to eat his entire bowl, despite saying he'd eaten too much before.

When the movie was over the two lay on their backs, staring at the ceiling. "Can I ask you something?" Bobble said.

"Sure." Clank yawned.

"Did you do anything crazy like Grace?" he asked. "You know, after your mom died?"

Clank frowned. "Not really. I mostly just got depressed."

"What about angry?" Bobble asked.

"I dunno, I guess." Clank shrugged.

Bobble rolled to face Clank. "If my mother died… I dunno about my sisters, but I'd probably get so angry I'd tear this whole house down."

Clank sighed heavily. "I don't really remember everything I did after she was gone. It's mostly a blur, but I think I was angry there for a bit…" he turned on his side. "We had this little sculpture I made of me and my mom. It was just an ugly lump of clay that I put together when I was five or six. It wasn't anything great but my mom kept it by her bed and said she was keeping my love close… Not sure when I did it, but sometime after I went home that sculpture ended up broken in the trash bin."

"I'm… I'm sorry." Bobble said quietly. "Was that the same statue that was on your shelf?"

"You saw that?" Bobble nodded, Clank averted his gaze. "Yeah, I couldn't bear to throw it away."

"I don't blame you." Bobble said. "I'm sure your mother wouldn't blame you for being angry. You have every right to be mad. You should be allowed to yell, scream, and smash everything in sight."

Clank chuckled halfheartedly. "You're weird."

"I'm right though." Bobble said with a yawn. "Might even help you feel better to just let it all out." He rolled to his back and tucked his arms behind his head.

Clank thought about when he yelled at Vidia. It did make him feel better about that situation. "I guess… worth a shot anyway."

Bobble didn't answer. Clank looked over at him, Bobble took slow even breaths. He was fast asleep. Clank smiled softly and closed his eyes.

* * *

 **I like overwatch. I like Junkrat and Roadhog. I'd been planning on putting them in this for a long ass time. It's weird I know. They're gonna be around for a bit. Gotta finish up the "Weekend at Bobble's" chapters before we get some distance from them.**

 **On a final note, with this chapter I've caught up with my chapter buffer. Dunno when I'll get chapter 13 done but I am working on it. It might take a couple weeks to get it done, so as of now this story is no longer on a weekly update schedule.**


	13. Circuitry

Clank woke up to the sound of somewhat labored breathing. He sat up, a little confused as to where he was and realized he was still in Bobble's room. Still beside him and still asleep was Bobble, the source of the heavy breathing. He was curled in on himself and his face showed discomfort.

"Bobble, wake up." Clank said, shaking him. The boy blinked his eyes open and stared up at Clank. "Are you okay?"

Bobble quickly sat up and went to his dresser. "I'm fine." He said, digging through his drawer. "My chest hurts a little, but I'm fine. Did I wake you up?"

"No." Clank said, watching as Bobble pulled something from his drawer, wadded up in what might have been a shirt. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Aye," Bobble said. "Excuse me." He left his room and hurried downstairs. Clank followed after him only to see him disappear into a room on the other side of the house, closing the door behind him.

Tink was sitting in front of the TV with her uncle's mechanical arm in her lap. She was only half-watching the screen while she worked with the arm. Clank sat on the couch beside her.

"Is Bobble okay?" Clank asked.

"What do you mean?" Tink asked.

"Well, he was breathing funny." Clank said. "Like he was out of breath."

Tink hummed for a moment, not really acknowledging Clank's worries while she fiddled with the arm in her lap. "He's fine." She said finally. "I wouldn't worry too much about it."

"You sure?" Clank asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure." She said. "Hey, can you hold this for me?" she held up a screw driver, Clank took it and she dug her fingers into the wires in the arm. "Uncle Jamie fried the circuitry in this…"

"I've never seen any stories on how he lost his arm." Clank said. "I mean, I don't really follow their history or anything. I'm just curious how it happened."

Tink shrugged. "Uncle Jamie's never told us how he lost his arm and leg."

Peri emerged from the kitchen with a bowl of cereal. "That's not entirely true." She said. "He's told us plenty of times how he lost his limbs."

Tink laughed. "Yeah but the story's been completely different each time."

"I asked Grandpa how it happened once." Peri said.

"And what did he tell you?" Clank asked.

"Ask Jamie." Peri and Tink said together. Tink took the screwdriver back then.

"Just so you know, Clank." Tink said. "They're probably going to come back over today. So it might be a good idea if you went home soon."

"Okay." Clank said. He pulled his phone from his pocket, intending to call Gary for a ride and saw that he had three missed calls from him and a voice mail. He listened to about half of it before deleting it. Gary was asking where he was and when he was coming home. The call had come in at around eleven thirty, and he figured he must have either been watching the movie or asleep when Gary called.

He didn't really want to call Gary for a ride anymore. It would probably just lead to being yelled at and grounded again, and if he was going to be punished he wanted to at least enjoy a little more freedom while it lasted.

"When are they coming over?" Clank asked, putting his phone away.

Tink set the arm aside and shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe in an hour or two?"

"They usually just show up whenever they feel like it." Peri said.

Clank nodded. "Then I'll wait for Bobble to give me a ride."

"Well, you might be waiting an awfully long time then." Mary said, emerging from the room Bobble had disappeared into. "He's just gotten into the bath."

"Oh, yeah. Geez. Bobble takes really long baths." Tink said.

Clank shrugged "I don't mind waiting."

"No you don't understand Clank. He takes _absurdly_ long baths." Peri said.

"Doesn't bother me any. I can wait." Clank said.

"Clank," Mary said. "Jamie and Mako are going to be by later. It's probably better if I take you home now."

Clank shrugged. "They already told me. I don't mind waiting for Bobble."

Mary raised an eyebrow, "Well in that case, would you like some breakfast?"

"Oh, yes please." Clank said.

Mary signaled for him to follow her to the kitchen. "What would you like, Clank? We have frozen waffles, cereal and Poptarts."

"I'll just have cereal." Clank said.

"Is Captain Crunch alright?" Mary asked. "You aren't allergic to peanut butter are you?"

Clank shook his head. "I don't think I have any food allergies." He said.

"Oh good." Mary said. She fixed him a bowl and handed it over.

"Thank you." Clank said, taking the bowl from her.

"You can eat in the living room with the girls if you like." Mary said. Clank thanked her again. "Oh, before I forget. I called your father last night to let him know you were staying the night."

"Oh." Clank said, a little worried. "Was he mad?"

"He sounded a little frustrated, but I told him that I insisted and he calmed down." She explained.

"But I kind of stayed on accident." Clank said, rubbing the back of his head.

"I know dear, but you don't need Gary getting upset with you over an impromptu sleepover. That just doesn't seem very fair to me."

Clank smiled softly. "You're the best Ms. Kettletree."

He returned to the living room where Tink was now watching TV while the mechanical arm was set between her and Peri. Clank sat beside Periwinkle and watched TV while he ate. Peri was on her laptop again, and Clank glanced over her shoulder and saw her working on coding.

"What's that for?" he asked.

"Jamie's arm." Peri answered. "Once we get everything fixed in it I gotta reprogram it, since he managed to fry the whole thing."

"Do you always do the repair work for him?" Clank asked. "I mean, you guys are just kids."

"Mom said he used to fix it on his own." Tink said. "But he let us take over when he found out we like working with machines."

"Remember when they babysat us when we were little?" Peri asked.

Tink laughed. "Mom was so shocked when she picked us up!"

"What… What happened?" Clank asked, unable to imagine what those two could have done to three little kids.

"Oh man," Peri giggled. "Uncle Jamie was stuck on the floor, missing his arm and leg."

"I was sitting on him with his knee joint. And Bobble was under the table with his arm disassembled." Tink chuckled. "And you… and Peri, you…"

"I'd gotten into Grandpa's trunk and found his pig mask." Peri laughed. "He was trying to catch me when mom showed up!"

Clank stared in disbelief. "I thought they might've done something horrible to you…"

"What? No way. They love us." Tink said. "We drive them crazy sometimes though."

"It's their own fault for befriending me." Mary said, passing through.

"How did your mom meet them?" Clank asked when Mary disappeared up the stairs.

"They caught her stealing from their scrap yard." Peri said.

"Uncle Jamie says Mom was trying to steal Grandpa from him." Tink said.

"The big guy?" Clank asked.

"Uh huh." They said together.

"Crazy when you think about it though." Peri said. "Mom's never really been interested in anyone."

That seemed weird to Clank. Something wasn't adding up. "Wait a second. What about your dad?" They both gave him a confused look. "You know, your father. Where is he?"

"We don't have a dad." Tink said.

"You mean he's dead?" Clank asked.

"No." Peri said. "We've never had one."

Clank must have been missing something. These kids couldn't possibly not have a father unless... "So… you're…?"

"Adopted." Tink supplied. "Yeah."

"Oh…" Clank said, not really sure what else to say. He watched as Mary crossed the house again, carrying a set of clothes he assumed was for Bobble. She really was the best. "Nothing wrong with growing up without a father I guess. I mean, I did."

"But you've got a dad now." Tink said. "So that's good, right?"

Clank shook his head. "I don't really like Gary."

"Oh…" Tink said, taken aback. "But you like Terence, right?"

"Yeah, he's alright." Clank shrugged. "He says hi by the way Tink. I think he misses spending time with you."

Tink sighed. "One more week, right?"

Clank smiled. "Yeah, one more week."

"Hey Clank?" Peri said hesitantly.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry for what I said yesterday." Peri said. "About you being a good boyfriend for Bobble. Not that you wouldn't be, I'm sure you would be great. What I meant to say is…"

"We shouldn't have involved you in teasing our brother." Tink said. "We're both really sorry about that."

Clank smiled, then laughed. "Hey, it's no problem. My friends and I used to torment each other like that. We especially liked to tease Lance." Both girls seemed to relax. "It was a little embarrassing, but I kinda liked being included. I never really got the embarrassing little sibling experience."

"Terence said something like that when he found out you were moving here." Tink said. "He told me he was really excited to meet you and have an overbearing big brother like Bobble."

"I'm not that overbearing." Bobble said, emerging from the other room while rubbing a towel over his head. He'd gotten dressed in jeans and a black Amaranthe T-shirt.

"Holy cow he got out of the tub." Tink gasped.

"This has got to be a record for you!" Peri said.

"Oh come on. I'm not going to stay in the bath all day when I have a friend over." Bobble said.

"Aw, you hear that Clank? You're special!" Tink said.

Clank couldn't help but grin as Bobble rolled his eyes. "Is there's any cereal left?" Bobble asked.

"I ate all of it, slow poke." Peri said.

"I think there's still some left." Clank said.

"Thank you, _Clank."_ Bobble said shooting an annoyed look at Peri. He went to the kitchen and Peri jumped up to follow him. Clank stayed by Tink, eating his own breakfast as she pulled the mechanical arm into her lap again.

"You almost done fixing it?" Clank asked, watching Tink tinker with it.

"I think so. It just needs a few wires replaced and a new chip here…" she pointed as she fiddled with it. "We're gonna run some tests on it when we're done, but we won't know for sure if it's working right until Uncle Jamie comes back."

"Can I have a go with it?" Clank asked, honestly curious about how the arm worked. He'd seen mechanical body parts before, but it was just a couple fingers and nothing as complex as half of an arm.

Tink handed the arm over. It wasn't quite as heavy as he was expecting it to be. It weighed as much as a regular arm he supposed, but it definitely looked a lot bulkier than that. There were some loose wires inside that looked like they had burns or something on them. That probably happened when the arm short circuited. He stuck his fingers in the arm to pull the wires out.

"Wait, don't take them out yet." Tink said.

"Why not? They don't work, right?" Clank said.

"True, but I'm leaving them there for Bobble. He has a system for replacing them." Tink explained. "He didn't get around to replacing the wires yesterday."

"You could have done it." Bobble said, sitting beside Clank on the couch with a large bowl of cereal.

"You keep the spares in your room and I didn't want to go in there while you were sucking face with your boyfriend." Tink said coolly.

Clank grinned and chuckled slightly as Bobble nearly choked on his breakfast. "Would you cut that out! We aren't dating!"

"Not yet anyway." Peri teased, appearing behind Bobble and throwing her arms around her brother. "Give it time, it could happen."

Bobble was red as a fire engine. Clank laughed and figured it was time to diffuse the situation. "Okay, that's enough. I'm not really looking for a relationship right now, so you two are going to have to be okay with your brother and me just being friends." Clank chuckled. "Besides, we only really met yesterday and you're putting a lot of pressure on this whole dating thing!"

"Oh, man you're right." Tink said. "Peri we'd better back off or else Bobble's gonna be single forever."

"Tink I swear…" Bobble growled. "If you don't quit I'm going to tell Terence-"

"I'm stopping I'm stopping!" Tink laughed. "But seriously can you go get the wires from your room?"

Bobble set down his bowl on the coffee table and headed to his room. Clank set down the arm and followed him. "Sorry about that." Clank said as they entered Bobble's room. "I may have mentioned I didn't mind the teasing."

Bobble sighed and pulled a box off of a high shelf. "It's fine. I'm just… frustrated. They always tease me about my personal life and ask when I'm going to get a boyfriend. But I'm not the only single person in this house! In fact Tink is the only one with a significant other!" He sat down on his bed and started pulling wires from the box.

"I'm sorry." Clank said. "That really isn't fair of them."

"I know, right?" Bobble sighed. "I mean, Tink and I never tease Peri about not having a girlfriend. So I don't get why they have to torment me!"

"You think it might be because you're the only boy in the house?" Clank asked.

"Maybe?" Bobble shrugged. "I wish they would just lay off for once."

"Well maybe they're teasing because you like someone." Clank suggested.

"What are you talking about?" Bobble shot him a questioning glare.

"Yesterday you told me you like someone on the football team. I might be able to put in a good word if you want." Clank shrugged.

Bobble sighed. "Thank you, but no. I'm over that jackass."

"Oh." Clank rubbed the back of his neck. "Who… who was it?"

Bobble closed the box in his lap a little too hard before getting to his feet and returning it to the shelf. "That self-absorbed insensitive prick Eric Dozer."

Clank was taken aback, but then chuckled. "Dozer? Really?"

Bobble blushed and gathered the wires he'd pulled from the box. "Aye, so what?"

"Nothing." Clank covered his laugh. "Nothing, just you have awful taste."

"Oh, well you're one to talk!" Bobble snapped. "I may have had a thing for Dozer, but at least I'm not with Vidia!"

Clank shut his mouth and all the bad feelings started to stir up again. Bobble immediately softened and reached for Clank. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Clank. I didn't mean to insult her… or… you… I just…"

"It's not that." Clank said. "I just… What makes you think I'm with Vidia? I said I was single not ten minutes ago… and last night."

"Right… you did. I'm sorry Clank I shouldn't have said anything. I've just seen the way she looks at you. And I've seen how often you two are together so I just assumed." Bobble rubbed the back of his neck.

"I hate Vidia." Clank said.

"You do?"

"Yes. And there is nothing in the world that would ever make me want to date her." Clank said. "Since the day I met her I've thought she was awful. I tried to think better of her for Sil's sake… they're friends after all, but the awfulness keeps coming back. So I guess I just hate her."

"Wow…" Bobble sighed. "And I thought I disliked Vidia… what did she do you you?"

"I'd rather not say." Clank huffed.

Bobble nodded. "That's fine." He paused shortly. "Vidia teased Tinkerbell a lot when we started public school. Tink was in seventh grade, Vidia was in eighth. I did what I could to keep Vidia away from her, but I was in high school. Luckily, Tink can stick up for herself pretty well. But the following year, Vidia was in high school with me. I already didn't like her, but we are constantly trying to outdo each other now."

Clank frowned. That explained a lot. He supposed that in the mind of a drunk, sex would be outdoing a kiss. It made sense, but it was still messed up. Vidia's actions were creeping into his mind again and Clank crossed his arms and shuffled his feet awkwardly.

"Are you okay?" Bobble asked.

"You should drop the rivalry before it hurts someone else." Clank mumbled.

Realization sunk into Bobble's features. "Did she do something to you because of me?" he whispered. Clank stared at the floor and nodded. Bobble put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry…"

Clank shrugged. "It's not your fault."

"It is though. Vidia's beef is with me and if she took it out on you then that's my fault." Bobble said.

"She's the one who did it." Clank said. "It's her fault. Not yours, so forget it and drop it." He could feel the anger bubbling up again.

Bobble nodded. "Okay… I'm sorry."

Clank rubbed his arm and nodded. "It's fine."

They just stood there awkwardly for a moment longer. Bobble counted the wires in his hands again but made no move to leave his room and neither did Clank. "Hey." Bobble said eventually. "Do you want to know what my deal is with Dozer? Why I had a thing for him I mean?"

Clank shot him a confused look. "I guess?"

"Well when I was a freshman and he was a sophomore there was a day where for some reason we got into a fight." Bobble started. "A big one. I mean the kind of fight you see in TV shows where the students all circle around and chant while two idiots beat the shit out of each other. And I got to be one of those idiots."

"What were you fighting about?" Clank asked.

"That's just it, I don't know! I don't remember what led to it just that it happened. Afterwards I kept thinking about him. Couldn't get him out of my head, you know? And somehow that turned into a dumb crush." Bobble shrugged. "I knew it was bad. I knew about Dozer's reputation but I still fell for him like an idiot."

Clank smirked. "You really are weird. Falling for a guy who beat you up? Do you just like abuse or something?"

Bobble grimaced. "I never said he beat me up. I'll have you know I won that fight."

"You did?" Clank asked astonished.

"Aye!" Bobble said firmly. "I may be scrawny but uncle Jamie taught me how to use that to my advantage."

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised by that." Clank chuckled. "So what made you get over him?"

"That stupid party." Bobble grumbled. "I told him how I felt and he just laughed at me and called me a few… unsavory names. I was pretty mad after that and joined Sil at the punch bowl. His behavior later solidified my contempt for him."

Clank sighed. "Well… you may have terrible taste, but at least you finally got over him."

Bobble shoved Clank lightly. "Well, maybe I'll find someone better next time around." He gave Clank a small smile. "Come on, I've got to get this arm fixed before Jamie gets here."

When the boys returned to the living room Tink handed the arm over to Bobble who began replacing the wiring inside. Clank watched closely as he worked and even asked to replace a few himself. Bobble gladly let him. In about thirty minutes the hardware was all replaced and the arm was handed off to Periwinkle for programing.

Just as she plugged the arm into her laptop the front door swung open and Jamison hobbled inside. "Hello Kettletrees!" he shouted. "How's my favorite group of gremlins today?"

Clank tensed up beside Bobble. Bobble squeezed his shoulder. "It's okay." he whispered and Clank nodded. "You want me to take you back to your house?"

"No, I'm okay." Clank breathed just as Jamie's partner entered the house as well. Mary greeted him and offered him coffee and the man nodded and followed her to the kitchen. Before he disappeared however his eyes locked with Clank's for a solid five seconds. Clank felt frozen then. What was that about? All sorts of scenarios started running through Clank's head and his chest started hurting. Bobble squeezed his shoulder again and he snapped out of it.

"So yer still here are ya?" Jamie said, looking right at Clank.

"Oh… um… yes." Clank responded nervously.

"He and Bobble had a sleepover." Tink said, grinning slightly.

Jamie's already wide smile got even wider. "That so? Ya make a good friend there Filly?"

"I did." Bobble answered.

"He made dinner last night." Peri said. "It was delicious. You should've tried it."

"Did ya save any for me?" Jamie asked hopefully.

"Bobble ate all of it." Tink said. "Chicken, fruit, bread and three large slices of pie. I have no idea why he isn't fat."

Jamie's smile fell. "Well Filly, next time Clams cooks ya somethin' let me know 'afore you eat it all."

"I will." Bobble answered, he was more focused on keeping Clank calm than the conversation.

Clank was sure Bobble was about to suggest taking him to Gary's again, but something Jamie said struck him. "Clams?"

"That's yer name right?" Jamie asked.

Clank just stared for a moment. "No… no it's not."

"Oh…" Jamie stared at the floor. "Could've sworn… What was your name then?"

"It's Clank." Clank said.

"Huh… You sure it ain't Clams?" Jamie asked.

"I'm pretty sure I know my own name." Clank said.

Jamie stared straight ahead again, looking lost for about three seconds before he shook his head and giggled. He seemed to completely forget he was talking to Clank and turned his attention to Periwinkle and was asking about his arm.

"Just so you know." Bobble said. "He's probably going to call you Clams now."

"Is he okay?" Clank whispered.

"He's got some memory problems, but he's fine." Bobble said. "You ready to head out?"

"No, I'm good." Clank said. "I want to see how the arm works."

Bobble grinned then. "Okay, sure."

Clank watched while Peri typed on the computer. Jamie reached over a few times and pointed out corrections for her. Mako and Mary emerged from the kitchen after a while and sat at the table. Mako still had the mask covering the lower half of his face. It was intimidating and Clank tried to ignore him being there. Instead he paid attention to the arm project.

"That should do it." Periwinkle said finally.

"Right!" Jamie said excitedly. He picked up the arm and attached it to his stump.

Clank watched in awe as the hand started moving, slowly at first. Jamie stared at the metal hand in concentration and rotated the hand around the wrist. He touched each finger to the thumb.

"Jamie!" Mary called out. Jamie looked up just in time to catch the apple she tossed at him.

"Okay! Looks like it's working." Tink said. She ran a hand over the appendage. "What do you think uncle Jamie?"

"I think ya drongos took too long." He said with a smirk. Tink glared at him and he ruffled her hair with his real hand. "I'm just teasing. Y'did great kid."

Clank gawked, "that's incredible…" he said. "How does it work? I mean, where'd you get the arm? That kind of tech is hard to obtain."

"Ain't too hard if ya make it yourself." Jamie said, grinning.

"Wait what?" Clank asked.

"Designed it and built it myself. Well… Hoggy helped put it together. Little hard with just one hand." Jamie said.

"But how did you do it? Did you used to work for the SW foundation? They're the only ones I know of who have mechanical limbs that work as well as this." Clank said.

"Their tech is garbage!" Jamie spat. Clank startled and Mako was chuckling across the room.

"I… I dunno about that. My neighbor Jean worked for them and he had two mechanical fingers… they seemed to work just fine." Clank mumbled.

"Listen kid, if a seventeen year old idiot with a fried brain can make a functional arm in a month, then a company of 'geniuses' should be able to make one in a week tops."

Clank looked over at Bobble then. "You made an arm?"

"No! I did!" Jamie snapped making Clank flinch back. "Ain't you payin' attention?"

"Sorry! It's just… you said seventeen year old and…"

"Jamie… Phin's seventeen now. It's a reasonable mistake." Mako said then.

Clank didn't notice but Bobble was right by his side again, keeping a hand on his back. "You alright?" He asked, and Clank just nodded in response.

"I made the arm twenty somethin' years ago." Jamie said. "Done a better job than some snobby rich company. See for yourself." He extended the arm to Clank who hesitantly grasped it.

The metal fingers curled around his hand, but gripped about as tight as a normal hand would. Slowly they shook hands and Jamie let go. "See? Works just as well as any of that SnM company can make."

Bobble choked back a laugh then. "SW foundation, uncle Jamie." Tink corrected.

"Right whatever." Jamie said. "But my handiwork is just as good if not better than theirs."

"Technically this is our handiwork" Tink said. "We fixed it after all."

"Well if I hadn't made it in the first place you wouldn't have anything to fix, Stinkerbell." Jamie argued.

"Well if you weren't so reckless and constantly getting into arguments with your toaster then my kids wouldn't have to fix your arm so often." Mary teased.

"Well if you would just fix my toaster like I asked!" Jamie yelled.

"I'm not your personal repair woman." Mary shrugged. "Besides, if you're smart enough to build a working arm, why can't you fix your own toaster?"

Clank got up, feeling a bit overwhelmed by talking with Jamie and the following argument. "I'm gonna get a drink." He mumbled to Bobble. "I'll be right back."

"You okay?" Bobble asked.

"I'm fine." Clank said. "Back in a second." He went to the kitchen where he could still hear Jamie arguing with Mary about toasters. Tink and Peri were throwing in snide comments here and there about how Jamie would be lost without them. He even heard Bobble chime in here and there.

Clank leaned over the kitchen sink. He probably should have gone back to Gary's when Mary first offered. It was still incredibly overwhelming being in the presence of those two, but his curiosity of the technology had gotten the better of him. Now that his anxieties has started catching up with him he really needed a minute alone to collect himself.

"The cups are in the left most cabinet." Mako's deep voice rumbled from the doorway. Clank startled and looked up at him.

"Um… thank you." Clank said. He opened the cabinet and pulled down a glass. Mako reached over him and took one as well and moved to the fridge.

"What are you having?" Mako grunted.

"Um… just… just water…" Clank stammered.

Mako hummed and took a filtered pitcher from the fridge and set it on the counter. Clank quickly took it and helped himself while Mako got himself a beverage. Clank quickly downed his drink and really wanted to return to Bobble. However the kitchen being as small as it was didn't leave much room for Clank to get his large frame around the even larger Mako who was blocking his exit and just staring out the window above the sink.

"Um… excuse me…" Clank said barely above a whisper. Mako glanced down at him but didn't move. "I… I um… I want to go back to the living room."

"You go back now you're just going to throw yourself into another panic attack." Mako said.

Clank swallowed. "O…okay…"

"I'm not gonna hurt you, kid." Mako said.

"Okay…" Clank said again, not sure he believed it.

Mako reached up and unbuckled the mask from his head and set it on the counter. Clank stared wide eyed at him. He wasn't really sure what to expect but Mako's face seemed rather… normal. Thick lips and wrinkled cheeks and a big crooked nose. He looked annoyed, but maybe that'sjust how his face was. He took a long drink and turned to Clank.

"You're still afraid of us." It wasn't a question but Clank nodded anyway. "Understandable. Most people are." Clank still couldn't look away from him. "Phin told us what happened to your mother. Sorry 'bout that."

Clank nodded. "You um… you already said that yesterday."

Mako hummed and nodded. He threw back the rest of his drink. Clank looked away from him and finished his water.

"Can… can I go now?" Clank asked.

"Not yet." Mako said. He took Clank's glass and put it in the sink. Clank stared at the counter not sure what else to do. If Mako was waiting for him to relax, then he would be waiting for a long time. Clank tried to force himself to calm down. "Did you kiss my nephew?"

Clank gasped and turned back to Mako. "What?"

Mako stared at him evenly. "Did you kiss Phin?"

"I… um…" Clank tried to form words but nothing came out. To his surprise, Mako smiled.

"So yes then."

"I'm.. I'm sorry." Clank shook.

"Don't be." Mako said.

"How did you know?" Clank asked.

"You said you did yesterday." Mako explained. "Jamie told me after we left."

"He can understand me?" Clank asked. He grimaced. Of course he did. He suddenly remembered Jamie translating during his panic attack. "It's… um… I… Does Bobble know?"

"Why wouldn't he know?" Mako asked.

"He was… he was really drunk when it happened…. I never meant to hurt him or take advantage of him! I swear! I'm sorry!"

"Kid. Relax." Mako said. "If Phin knows he hasn't said anything."

Clank sighed in relief. "Good."

"Do you like him?" Mako asked. "As a friend I mean."

"I guess so." Clank said.

Mako stared out the window again. He looked concerned for a moment. "Jamie and I aren't always here. We're only here this weekend because of Jamie's arm." Clank stared at him confused. "Don't feel like you have to avoid Phin because of us. I'd hate to be the reason why you two don't up friends."

"What are you talking about?" Clank asked.

"Phin doesn't have a lot of friends. Doesn't really seek people out much." Mako said. "You though. I've never seen him so worried about someone. He cares about you kid. He needs a friend his age. So I hope Jamie and I didn't ruin that for him."

"You… you guys really care about him, don't you?" Clank said softly.

"Yeah." Mako said. "He's a good kid."

"What are you two talking about in here?" Bobble stepped into the kitchen.

"Nothing." Mako said. "Just getting a drink." He picked up his mask and put it back over his face.

Bobble shrugged "Okay then." He squeezed around Mako and went to Clank. "We're going to go get lunch in a little while. Do you want to come with us?"

Clank looked over at Mako then back at Bobble. "I… I think I'd better head back to Gary's actually. I still have some homework I need to get done."

Bobble's face fell just slightly, but he quickly smiled. "Okay, I'll take you back."

"I'm free next Saturday though. So we could do lunch then maybe?" Clank suggested.

Bobble grinned wide. "I'd like that."

"Great! It's a date then." Clank smiled back. He glanced Mako's way and thought he saw a smile in his eye as he left the kitchen.

Clank said his goodbyes to Bobble's family. Tink and Peri both gave him hugs. Tink asked him to tell Terence hi. Mary told him he was welcome to come back whenever he liked. Clank had hoped to avoid more contact with Jamie, but the man threw and arm around his shoulders and said he'd love to show him some of his old sketches. Mako pulled Jamie off before Clank could respond and wished him a good afternoon. With that, Bobble drove him to Gary's.

"You doing alright?" Bobble asked once they were on the road.

"Yeah, I'm doing fine." Clank said. He definitely was feeling a lot more relaxed now. He had to admit, Mako wasn't that bad. Jamie still made him feel nervous though.

"You reached your limit with them, didn't you?" Bobble asked.

Clank chuckled. "A little bit yeah. Your grandfather's alright I guess, but your uncle's a bit… A bit much."

"Yeah, he can take some getting used to." Bobble said with a smile. "He's pretty protective though, so it's a good thing he likes you."

"He likes me?" Clank asked. "I thought I made him mad."

"Nah." Bobble waved off. "He yells a lot, but you'll know when he's actually angry."

"I guess I'd better stay on his good side then." Clank said. "You know, this has been the weirdest two days I've had since coming here."

"Aye? But were they bad?" Bobble asked.

"Well… Overall I guess not." Clank said. "I had a pretty good time actually. We should hang out more."

Bobble parked his car outside Gary's house. "Definitely." He agreed.

Clank climbed out of the car and leaned into the window after closing the door. "Where do you always disappear to at school?" Clank asked.

"Oh, various places. Usually the shop classroom." Bobble shrugged.

"Are you going to be there tomorrow morning?" Clank asked.

"That depends." Bobble said with a small smile. "Are you going to look for me there?"

Clank nodded. "I was considering it."

"Then I'll consider being there." Bobble said.

"Great, so I'll see you tomorrow." Clank said taking a step away from the car.

"Tomorrow." Bobble nodded. "Have a good afternoon Clanky."

"You too Bobble." He waved and Bobble drove off. It was strange. As crazy as the weekend had been, Clank actually felt like it was one of his better weekends since moving here. He had a feeling Bobble had something to do with it. He really seemed to care about how Clank was feeling. Whatever it was, Clank thought it was definitely worth getting to know Bobble better. He watched as Bobble turned off his street and headed inside with a smile.


	14. Tarnish

_**NOTE: It's been a while since my last update... but it's my birthday so I played around with some of my new tech and finished the chapter... it's by no means my best work, but hopefully i can finally get back into the swing of things and start writing more frequently. Thank you for your patience.**_

Clank was actually excited to go to school the next day. He got up early, showered, made breakfast for everyone and was ready to go at least an hour before he and Terence actually needed to leave. He was in such a good mood. Not even his encounter with Gary from the previous day could dampen his spirits.

When he had gotten back yesterday, Gary was not in the best of moods. "What happened to you yesterday?" he had asked. "You just disappeared and suddenly you're spending the day with Tinkerbell's brother?"

Clank had only shrugged. "Bobble's nice." Was all he had to say.

"I don't care for him." Gary had said.

"I know." Clank replied.

"He's a bad influence!" Gary argued.

"Am I in trouble for something?" Clank finally had asked. "Ms. Kettletree told me she called you to say I was staying over, right?"

Gary sighed. "She did."

"So am I in trouble?" Clank had asked.

"No." Gary sighed. "I suppose not. Just go make sure your homework is done."

Clank hadn't been soured by Gary then, and he was definitely not going to be soured any time soon. He sat in the living room, reading a book for his English class while he waited for Terence.

Gary was the first one to come downstairs. "Good morning, son." He greeted Clank as he went into the kitchen. He returned a brief moment later with a puzzled look. "Did you make all this?" he asked.

"Hmm?" Clank looked up. "Oh, yes. I did." He said and turned back to his book.

Gary stared at him for a second before disappearing into the kitchen again and emerging with a plate full of blueberry pancakes, golden hash browns and sausage links. "I wasn't aware you could cook, Clank."

Clank shrugged. "I could've made something better if I got up earlier."

Gary swallowed a bite of pancakes. "Nonsense, this is delicious."

Clank smiled. "Thanks." And went back to reading.

Terence then came down the stairs in a hurry. "Something smells good!" he announced and hurried into the kitchen. He too came into the living room with a plate stacked high. "Wow, this all looks great dad!" Terence said. "Clank, you'd better get some or I'm gonna eat it all."

"I already ate." Clank said.

Terence bit into a sausage and hummed in content. "This is great. I dunno what you did different dad, but whatever it was do it again. This is the best sausage I've ever had."

"Thank you." Clank said.

"Huh?"

Gary chuckled. "Your brother made breakfast, Terence."

"Wow, really?" Terence said, shoving another bite in his mouth. "Snss whnn cn yw cook?"

"Since I was about seven I guess." Clank said. "Mom taught me a few things and then when I met Hunk we started cooking together all the time."

"Hunk… That was the dark boy that was here a few weeks ago, right?" Terence asked.

"That's right." Clank confirmed.

"He was cool." Terence said. "You should invite him back some time."

Clank glanced over at Gary. "Would you be okay with that?"

Gary was just finishing his breakfast. "Yes, that would be fine." Clank grinned. He had a feeling Gary was alright with Hunk coming back because of the prospect of food.

"Great. Thanks Gary." Clank said. He hopped to his feet and took Gary's plate to the kitchen. "You almost ready, Terence?"

"Yeah just about." Terence said.

Gary followed Clank into the kitchen. "You've never been this eager to get to school. What's going on?"

"Nothing." Clank said. "I'm just in a good mood."

"Huh." Gary smiled then. "Well I'm glad to hear it, Clank."

"Alright, I'm ready to go." Terence said. Clank nodded and grabbed his keys and they headed out.

"Have a good day boys!" Gary called after them.

Terence was watching Clank, who was smiling the whole drive. "Dad's right. You're in a better mood than usual."

Clank shrugged. "Yeah, well you know."

"You get along well with Tink's family after all?" Terence asked.

"I did." Clank nodded.

"You get along with Peri?"

"Yeah."

Terence grinned "You know, if you asked her out we could go on a double date some time."

Clank chuckled. "I'm not really her type Terence. Besides you're only saying that because I can drive."

"Guilty as charged." Terence laughed. "But how do you know you're not her type?"

Clank shrugged. "Well, just something Bobble said. Kinda led me to believe she wouldn't be interested in me."

"Well, you never know until you try." Terence said. "I'm just kidding. If you don't think you and Peri would be a good match, then it's probably best not to go down that road."

"My thoughts exactly." Clank agreed. He parked at the school and quickly got out of the car.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" Terence asked.

"What? I'm not!" Clank said.

"You got up early, made breakfast, and got here early enough to get a close parking spot. What's up, Clank?" Terence asked.

Clank shrugged. "Nothing. I'm just… I'm just feeling good I guess." Terence stared at him and Clank started to walk away again. "Anyway, I'm going to the shop classroom. I'll see you after school."

He hurried inside, bypassing the cafeteria and made his way to the shop room. It was still locked and the light was off. The teacher, Ms. Mosley must not be here yet. Clank sat down by the door and took his book out and continued to read while he waited.

After about five minutes he heard two voices approaching. "If you're still having a problem with it when you leave today my sisters and I can take a look at it." Clank couldn't help but smile upon hearing Bobble's voice.

"We'll see Phineas, but I might just take it to a shop." That was Ms. Mosley's voice. The two of them rounded the corner just a Clank had gotten to his feet. "Oh! Good morning, Clement." Ms. Mosley said.

"Good morning." Clank said. Ms. Mosley unlocked the door and the boys followed her inside.

"Were you going to get some work done on your project?" Ms. Mosley asked.

Clank followed Bobble to one of the work tables. "I could I guess."

"Have you met Phineas yet?" she asked. "He's in my first period class."

"Yeah, we met this weekend." Clank nodded.

"He let me fix his car." Bobble said. "Which reminds me, how was it this morning?"

"It was good!" Clank said. "No shaking at all. Thanks again."

"See, Jennifer? I fixed Clankie's car. I can fix yours too."

Ms. Mosley rolled her eyes. "We'll see Phineas. I've got work to do, so you two behave yourselves."

"Yes Jenny." Bobble said sweetly. Clank laughed a little.

"You're on a first name basis with her?" Clank asked.

Bobble chuckled, setting out the tools for his project. "Sort of. I'm not actually supposed to call her Jenny or Jennifer." He explained. "I only do because I've been coming in here early for the past two years."

"Got it." Clank said. "So what are you working on?"

"Well, I'm working on a mini cabinet right now. Shouldn't take me long to do once I cut all the pieces." Bobble said. He pulled a folder out of his backpack and pulled a sheet out of it and handed it to Clank. On the paper was hand written instructions on precise measurements for the boards and how to assemble them.

"Well this must be child's play for you." Clank said as he reached over and started fiddling with a screwdriver Bobble had set out.

"Sort of." Bobble said taking the screwdriver from Clank and setting it back on the table. "It usually is, but… well." Bobble held up his hand.

"Oh." Clank said. "I forgot you hurt yourself the other day."

"Aye, makes handling tools a bit harder." Bobble said, rubbing at the bandage. "But I can manage. What are you working on?"

"A foot stool." Clank shrugged. "Nothing too fancy. I don't think I'm gonna have time to work on it before I have to head to class."

"Can I still see it?" Bobble asked.

"Sure, let me go get it." Clank said. He went to the back shelf, a few other students were starting to file into the classroom and were setting up their work stations. Clank got his foot stool off the back shelf and brought it back to Bobble.

Bobble looked over the stool. "Hmmm… not bad Clankie." He said. He tugged on the legs a little bit and ran his hand over the top of it. "You might want to seal the legs on here tighter."

Clank nodded. "I was gonna do that in class today and then sand it. I'm gonna put a few metal accents on it. Kinda like metal vines or something."

"You sure that won't be too much? It seems fine how it is." Bobble said as he handed the stool back to Clank.

"I don't think so. It'll make it look nicer." Clank said, taking the stool to put it away.

"Well, let me know how that goes." Bobble said, grinning.

"I will." Clank said. The bell rang a moment later and Clank gathered his bag to head to class. "Have fun with your cabinet." He said.

"Will do." Bobble said, already starting to get buried in his work. "I'll see you at lunch."

Clank hesitated, but nodded. They hadn't agreed to meet for lunch, but Clank definitely would rather eat with Bobble than any of the people he normally sat with.

He headed out of the classroom and saw Dozer coming that way. He managed to not make eye contact and slipped past him. He glanced over his shoulder in time to see Dozer head into the shop classroom. Poor Bobble, he thought, having to be stuck with that jerk. Well, at least he wasn't on a sports team with him.

The morning went by quickly. Clank's high spirits carried him through his classes and before he knew it, it was time for lunch. He shot a quick inconspicuous text to Bobble that he was heading to the cafeteria and hurried downstairs.

Vidia was at the bottom of the stairwell like she often was at this time. "Well you're in a good mood today." She said. Clank sighed and passed Vidia without acknowledging her. "Hey, wait up!" she called after him and quickly fell into step with him.

Clank continued to ignore her, and was focused more on the fact that he wouldn't be sitting at her table today. He kept an eye out for Bobble on the way to the lunch room, hoping he could save him from Vidia.

"Are you even listening to me?" Vidia asked.

"Not really." Clank said.

"Clank, come on this is important." Vidia said. She sounded serious so Clank stopped. "My dad wanted me to ask if there's enough bed at your house."

"What? What do you mean enough beds?" Clank asked. "I mean, yeah. There are."

"Oh good." Vidia said. "He was worried that there wasn't enough space for everyone this week."

Clank rolled his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about but we've got plenty of room." Vidia looked like she was going to say more, but Clank spotted Bobble's red hair down the hall. "Now if you excuse me, I'm meeting someone for lunch."

"Hey!" Vidia hurried to keep up with Clank. "Wait a second! Didn't your dad tell you about¬-?"

"Nope." Clank cut her off. "Bobble!" he called down the hall.

"Bobble?" Vidia said, incredulously. "You're meeting him?"

Clank didn't bother to answer as he caught up with Bobble. "Hey," he greeted with a smile.

"Hi Clankie." Bobble smiled back. "Vidia, how are you?"

She crossed her arms and smirked. "Just fine. And you?"

"Great." Bobble replied, staring back icily. Clank could feel the tension between them was so thick he could cut it with a knife. He moved away from Vidia to stand beside Bobble. "Always a pleasure Vidia, but Clankie and I have to go." He said. Clank tried to hide his smile as he and Bobble walked away from her.

"Oh that's fine. I'll see Clank later tonight anyway!" she called after them.

"What's she talking about?" Bobble asked when they were out of earshot.

"I dunno." Clank said. "She lives near me, maybe she's gonna go running tonight."

"Stay indoors then." Bobble said with a smirk. "So she can't bother you."

"Will do." Clank nodded, they started heading to the cafeteria. "Where do you usually sit at lunch?"

"By the back windows if I can get a seat." Bobble said. "Otherwise I… oh, hang on a second." Bobble fished in his pocket for his cell phone which was buzzing. He quickly unlocked it and checked the messages that had been sent to him.

"Who is it?" Clank asked.

"Do you mind if we skip the cafeteria?" Bobble asked.

"What? Why?"

Bobble didn't answer and started walking faster. "Hey! Bobble, what's going on?" Clank followed him past the lunch room and down the athletic hall and into the empty basketball arena. "Bobble, where are we going?"

"Don't worry about it, I just have something I need to take care of." Bobble pushed the double doors open to the back parking lot and propped the door open with a brick sitting outside.

"Bobble, we're not supposed to leave school." Clank said nervously as they walked out to the parking lot.

"We're not." Bobble assured him. "I'm just looking for…" Bobble trailed off and looked around.

"Yo egg head!" Clank startled at the voice and saw a scrawny young man heading toward them.

"Jeremy!" Bobble called back, waving.

"Who is that?" Clank asked. He stayed close to Bobble as they wove through the cars making their way to the man.

"That's Jeremy." Bobble said. "Our parents work together."

"But what is he doing here?" Clank asked as they reached Jeremy.

"Someone order some sandwiches?" Jeremy held up a paper sack. Bobble took the sack and looked inside. "How's the girls?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Bobble asked. Clank noticed a slight smirk on his face.

"C'mon man, you know I gotta ask." Jeremy said.

Bobble sighed and handed the paper sack to Clank and dug his wallet out of his backpack. "Well Tink is fine. She's not causing too much trouble." He handed some money to Jeremy and put his wallet away.

"No more than usual, right?" Jeremy said.

"Right." Bobble chuckled. Clank just stood awkwardly while Bobble told this guy about his family. He wasn't exactly comfortable standing around in the parking lot while Bobble talked about Peri making friends with a couple of girls and Mary working on a big project for her boss. He felt very out of place, and a little annoyed that Bobble dragged him out here.

"Uh huh, uh huh… so who's your friend here?" Jeremy asked, grabbing Clank's attention again.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Bobble laid his hand on Clank's arm. "This is Clement Garret Boutin. He's new in town."

"Nice to meet ya." Jeremy said, holding out his hand.

"Oh… uh." Clank handed the paper sack back to Bobble and went to shake Jeremy's hand. "Nice to meet you too?" He said awkwardly. He shook Jeremy's hand and when he pulled away he felt something sharp on the side of his hand. "Ouch!" He jerked his hand away. There was a small cut on the side of his hand.

"Oh! Geez, I am so sorry!" Jeremy said.

"What was that?" Clank asked.

"Let me see." Bobble said. He took Clank's hand and looked at the cut. "You're bleeding." Bobble said. "I've got some bandages, you'll be okay."

Clank pulled his hand back. "Bobble I'm fine!" He said. "What did you do? How'd you manage to cut me?" Clank snapped at Jeremy.

"I dunno!" Jeremy said frantically "maybe my nails are too sharp?"

Bobble pulled a napkin from the paper sack and grabbed Clank's hand again. He wiped the blood off his hand and took a bandage from his pocket and put it over the cut. "There, are you okay?"

"I said I'm fine." Clank said annoyed. "Look, I'm going back inside. I'll see you later." He turned away and made a beeline for the door. Something about Jeremy didn't sit right with him, and it somehow put a dark spot on his good mood.

"Wait!" Bobble painted behind him as he reached the gym doors. "Clank, wait up."

"Bobble, I'm hungry. I'm gonna go get some lunch before the lines close." Clank said grumpily.

"There's no need!" Bobble said, quickly digging into the paper sack. He handed a large sub sandwich to Clank. "I wanted to have lunch with you so I went ahead and got a sandwich for you too."

Clank stared at the sandwich, then at Bobble. "You're weird." Clank said, taking the sandwich.

"I know. Always been my problem." Bobble grinned. "Come sit with me." He went over to the bleachers and took his own sandwich from the bag.

"So who is Jeremy, really?" Clank asked when he sat down.

"I told you, our parents work together." Bobble said. "They've known each other for longer than I've been around. And when I was little, he used to watch me when a sitter was needed."

"Huh…" Clank mulled that over. That seemed normal enough, but things still didn't sit right with him. "Okay then, why'd you tell him my full name?"

"What?"

"You introduced me as Clement Garett Boutin. Why did you do that?"

Bobble stared at the floor. "Oh, um. I don't know. That's how you introduced yourself to me." He gripped the edge of his seat tightly. "Are you mad at me?"

Clank surprised by that. "I'm a little annoyed." He admitted. "But I'm more confused than anything."

Bobble sighed heavily. "Well, like you said: I'm weird."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"It's fine Clank. I know I'm weird. I have weird habits of just going wherever I want. I've just never had a friend my age to drag along with me." Bobble lifted his head and grinned wide at Clank. "I'll try to be more normal."

Clank smiled back. "Normal is boring. But maybe next time tell me where we're going before the sandwich guy cuts me."

Bobble laughed. "I'm sorry about your hand by the way. I'll be sure to kick Jeremy's ass later."

"No worries." Clank said. He grabbed Bobble's right wrist and held his hand up. "Besides, now we're bandage buddies."

Bobble snorted a laugh "And you call me weird!"

"You should see my old friend group if you want weird." Clank said. The bell rang and Bobble's face fell.

"Already? But I've barely eaten!" He complained.

"Guess we wasted too much time talking." Clank said.

"Guess so." Bobble agreed. "Sorry about that. I'll see you later, right?"

"Right." Clank agreed.

They went their separate ways and Clank ate the rest of his sandwich on the way to his class. Vidia turned to him as soon as he sat down.

"You have a good time with the geek?" Vidia asked.

"Best lunch I've had all year." Clank said, still having preferred this lunch period over sitting with the jocks.

Vidia rolled her eyes. "So anyway, like I was asking earlier, is there enough space for us at your house this week?"

Clank frowned "What are you talking about?"

"You really weren't listening at all before were you?" Vidia said. "My little sister and I are staying at your house this week while our parents are on their anniversary cruise."

Everything stopped. Clank felt his insides turn and his head felt full of cotton. "I'm… I'm sorry. Run that by me one more time?"

"My parents are going out of town." Vidia said. "Prilla and I can't stay by ourselves and your dad told mine that we could stay at your house until they got back."

Her words hit him like a truck and sat in his system like lead. He felt his stomach twist and his throat constrict. He was out of his seat in a flash and his lunch hit the floor three steps out of the classroom.


	15. Clank's Protection Squad

Gary came to sign Clank out from school. He found his son sitting in the nurse's office looking like he'd just seen Hell itself. It broke Gary's heart to see him like that when just that morning he seemed like he was actually happy rather than his usual façade.

"Clank? Are you alright?" Gary asked with a knock on the door.

Clank looked up at him, but the nurse spoke to Gary first. "He said he got food poisoning. He needs to go home for a couple of days."

Gary nodded, "Alright. Clement, let's go." Clank got up and followed Gary out to the parking lot. "Are you alright to drive home? I need to head back to work."

Clank nodded "I should be."

Gary gave a half smile and put his hand on Clank's shoulder. "I'm sorry you're not feeling well, especially after how well you were doing this morning." Clank looked really down. "Is everything alright, son?"

Clank nodded quickly. "I'm fine, really."

Gary frowned skeptically "alright, go home and get some rest. I'll try and come home early today."

Clank held back the glare he wanted to shoot at his father and felt his stomach twist again. "Good idea. Need to make sure everything is set up for Vidia and her sister."

Gary blinked, looking like he had been smacked in the face. "Oh no. I completely forgot about that." Gary muttered. "You're right. Good grief I can't believe I forgot!"

"So it is true." Clank muttered to himself.

"What was that Clement?" Gary asked.

"Nothing." Clank lied. "I'll see you at the house."

"Call me if you need anything" Gary said.

Clank drove back to Gary's house and immediately crawled in bed. He was so embarrassed that he'd thrown up, but was glad to at least be away from Vidia before she invaded his living space. He wanted to be mad at Gary for doing this to him but reasoned with himself that Gary didn't know what had happened. Gary was friends with Vidia's dad. It was only normal for him to offer to watch after his daughters. But why was this the first Clank was heading about it? Sure Gary had forgotten, but surely Terence must have known.

"Terence…" Clank mumbled. He rolled over and grabbed his phone and texted his brother.

 **I puked and am at the house. Can you get home after school?**

He dropped his phone as his stomach lurched again. "What…?" Clank had thrown up from negative shock in the past, the last time was after his mother died, but even then he didn't continue being sick an hour later. Clank's stomach lurched again and he darted out of bed and to the bathroom. He heaved and coughed bile into the toilet and slumped against the wall when it all stopped.

He groaned heavily and realized he might actually be sick on top of everything else. Slowly Clank got back up and dragged himself to his room again. He had a message from Terence.

 **I'll get a ride. Feel better.**

Clank typed out "I will" but then deleted it and sent a different message. **Did you know Vidia was staying with us this week?**

Clank didn't expect Terence to answer as quickly as he did. **I forgot about that… Dad agreed to it months ago before you moved here.**

Clank sighed and dropped on the bed again. **I guess my coming here made you both forget.**

 **You should tell Dad what happened.**

Clank stared at the message. Terence was right. He probably should tell Gary what Vidia did. Clank had a feeling it wouldn't go well if he told his father what happened. He typed back a message hesitantly. **Would he believe me?**

 **I think so.**

 **Then I'll think about it.** Clank locked his phone and set it on his desk. He wasn't sure what he would even say to Gary or how to bring up the topic. He couldn't shake the thought that Gary would look at this all wrong and he would just get in more trouble.

Clank's stomach ached and twisted. He was sweating and exhausted. He stripped down to his undershirt and boxers and pulled his blanket over himself. Eventually, despite the stomach cramps and the urges to vomit again, Clank managed to fall asleep.

He felt like he had only been asleep for a few minutes, but was awake again and hearing activity downstairs. He didn't move from the bed, feeling even worse than when he had fallen asleep. He had no idea what he had caught, but it made him want to never move again. He shakily reached for his phone to see if anyone had tried to contact him since he fell asleep. There was one message from Gary saying he'd be home soon, but other than that there was nothing.

Clank heard someone coming up the stairs and a moment later Terence appeared in the doorway. "Hey Clank. How you feeling?" Clank only groaned in response. "Yeah, you don't really look so good. Bobble wanted to know if he could come up and see you. I'll tell him you're not up to it."

"Wait…" Clank croaked out. "Wait, he can come up."

"Are you sure?" Terrence asked. Clank just nodded. "What about Tink and Peri? They're here too."

"Sure." Clank sighed.

Terence nodded and left. A moment later Bobble walked in and sat on the edge of the bed. "Hey, you alright?" He said softly.

"What was in that sandwich you gave me?" Clank asked, sitting up.

"What?" Bobble asked. "Just… Meat and cheese and stuff. Same thing that was on mine. Why?"

"Just… trying to figure out why I got sick." Clank sighed. "Couldn't just be because of what Vidia said."

Bobble scowled "What did she say?"

"Apparently she's going to be my house guest this week." Clank said tiredly.

"You've got to be kidding me." Bobble said just as Tink Peri and Terence made their way into the room and seated themselves around Clank. "Why?"

"Her parents are going out of town for their anniversary." Terence explained. "They've stayed with us before plenty of times, but after what Vidia did to Clank, I don't want her here."

"What did she do?" Peri asked.

Clank frowned and pulled his blanket tighter around himself. "I don't wanna talk about it." He muttered.

"I overheard her in the locker room today." Tink said. "She said something about you being her boyfriend. But you said you're single, right?"

"Yeah. And I'd never date Vidia for any reason in the world." Clank said.

"What you need is a beard." Terence said.

"Does she hate facial hair or something?" Clank asked. "I could try but it always grows in patchy."

Bobble laughed and Terence shook his head. "No, not that kind of beard. I mean like a fake girlfriend to drive her off."

Clank grimaced. "That just sounds like trouble. Besides, I doubt anyone would want to pose as my date."

"What about Sil?" Terence asked.

"Bad idea." Clank said. "I think she has a thing for me and I don't want to give her the wrong idea."

"Well what about Peri? You already said you weren't her type." Terence suggested.

"Hey! Don't volunteer me for things!" Peri said.

"That probably wouldn't work either." Clank said. "I dunno if Vidia knows or not." Clank shrugged.

"Knows what?" Terence and Peri asked together.

"You're gay aren't you?" Clank asked.

"What?!" Terence gasped.

"Yeah, but… how did you know?" Peri asked.

"Bobble told me." Clank said.

"Bobble!" Peri hissed.

"I didn't!" Bobble defended. "At least I don't think I did."

"Well how would you like it if I told people you-"

"Wait!" Clank cut Peri off. "Bobble didn't ever say directly that you're a lesbian. He made an off hand comment of you not having a girlfriend. I put two and two together. I'm sorry."

Both Peri and Bobble seemed to relax, but shot looks at each other that Clank couldn't quite read. "So wait" Terence said. "Tink's the only straight one in your family?"

"Who said I'm straight?" Tink asked.

"Well, you're my girlfriend so unless I'm a girl…" Terence said.

"Let me run something by you Terence. If you were a girl I'd still date you. Hell you could identify as an Apache Helicopter and I'd still like you." Tink explained.

Bobble scowled but Terence seemed to understand. "So you're bi?"

"Yeah, something like that." Tink grinned.

Clank cleared his throat "Hey, could you not make that joke? My ex used it to be a jerk to my friend Pidge all the time and it just seems insensitive to me."

"Oh!" Tink gasped. "Sorry about that, I didn't mean anything by it."

"It's alright." Clank smiled.

"Hey, you know who would be a great beard for Clank?" Peri cut in.

"Who?" Terence asked.

Peri and Tink exchanged a glance and grinned at each other. At the same time they both said "Bobble!"

Bobble turned bright red and Clank gave a breathy chuckle having seen it coming. "Would you two quit it!?" Bobble yelled at his sisters. They were both giggling at their brother's embarrassment.

Terence snickered. "Not a bad idea, but since Clank isn't gay I don't think that would work either." He said. "I mean… You're not gay, right Clank?"

"No." Clank said.

Terence nodded "Okay so then who-"

"I am bi though, so we don't necessarily have to find me a fake girlfriend." Clank said, a slight smirk pulling at his lips.

"Wait what?" Terence turned to his brother. "Since when are you bi?"

"Since always?" Clank said. "I'm actually surprised you didn't realize."

"Huh… Well I guess Lance did kiss you on the mouth on your birthday." Terence said. "Probably shouldn't let Dad know though."

"I wasn't planning on telling him." Clank said. "It's none of his business."

"Though it is going to be his business if Bobble's your fake boyfriend." Tink said.

"Okay, I'm going to stop you right there." Bobble said. "I'm going to have to decline that job."

Clank's stomach lurched a little bit but he managed to ignore it for the most part. "Why? Don't you want to help him?" Peri asked.

"Of course I do." Bobble said. "But from what I understand, Vidia started harassing Clank because of me. If I'm his beard then it's not going to make her back off. She's only going to see it as part of our rivalry and try even harder to get Clank. I'm not willing to put him through that."

Clank smiled warmly. "Thank you."

"So then who's gonna be Clank's beard?" Terence asked.

"Ever consider I don't want a beard?" Clank replied "I'm sure we can find some other way to drive her off."

"Besides, Vidia's used to getting what she wants regardless of who gets hurt in the process." Tink pointed out. "It's not really a guarantee that she'd lay off if Clank were in a relationship."

"But it _could_ help." Peri said.

"I could just pretend I'm sill in my old relationship from back home." Clank said. "If it could deter her, I could just fall into my old habits of having a possessive partner."

"I think we should come up with another idea." Bobble said. "One that doesn't involve you being or pretending to be miserable."

"What's going on in here?" The five teens all looked to the door where Gary had just appeared.

"Dad!" Terence jumped up. "Hey, I'm sorry, I know I'm not supposed to have friends over but-"

"I offered to drive him home since Clank got sick." Bobble interrupted. "I wanted to see how he was doing. I'm sorry for the intrusion… again."

Gary raised an eyebrow but shrugged it off. "It's no problem. Thank you for taking care of my boys." That caught the teens off guard as Gary crossed the room to Clank's bedside. Bobble scooted to the corner of the bed and Gary leaned close to his eldest. "Are you feeling any better?" He asked, pressing his palm to Clank's sweaty forehead.

"Not really." Clank said. "I threw up again a while ago."

Gary hummed in thought. "Maybe I should ask Lawrence to stop by a little earlier so he can have a look at you before he goes on his trip."

"No!" Terence and Clank exclaimed together.

"What? Why not?" Gary asked.

Bobble awkwardly slid off the bed and signaled his sisters to follow him. "We'd better get going. Hope you feel better Clankie."

Tink gave a quick peck to Terence's cheek. "See you later. Bye Clank! Feel better!"

"Later guys!" Peri said jumping up too and the three of them hurried out of the room.

"What's going on?" Gary asked his sons seriously.

Terence looked to Clank who bit his lip and shook his head slightly. Terence swallowed hard. "I don't think they should stay here." He said. "I mean, we aren't prepared to take them in, and with Clank being sick… it's just a bad idea."

"It wouldn't be too hard to get things set up for them before they get here." Gary said. "Clank could stay in my room until he's feeling better, I can change the sheets on his bed for the girls and I'd stay down stairs."

"They'd be staying in _my_ room?" Clank felt his head spin again. He didn't want Vidia in here going through his things, sleeping in his bed. She probably would get a kick out of that.

"It's too late to cancel I'm afraid." Gary said.

"Dad! You don't get it! I don't want Vidia here!" Terence shouted.

"Why son?" Gary pressed, frustrated. "You've never had a problem with her here before."

"I just don't want her here!" Terence insisted.

"Terence, they're coming here. So whatever issue you have with Vidia you're just going to have to put up with for the week so suck it up boy." Gary said gruffly.

Clank threw his blanket back and darted to the bathroom and slammed the door. He didn't have much left in his stomach to throw up, so he just dry heaved over the toilet bowl for several minutes.

"Clement? Clement, are you alright?" Gary called through the door.

"Uh huh… I'm fine…" Clank croaked.

"Dad don't!" Clank heard his brother yell.

"Clement needs a doctor." Gary said. "I'm calling Lawrence."

Thirty minutes later Clank was back in his bed, holding his face in his hands. Terence sat on the bed with him, worry etched in all his features. Downstairs they could hear the Allens had arrived.

"I'm sorry Clank." Terence said softly. "I tried."

"I know." Clank muttered. "Thank you."

"You really need to tell Dad what she did." Terence insisted.

"I can't." Clank replied.

"Why not?"

"It's humiliating." Clank said

"But isn't it worse to have her here all week?" Terence asked.

Clank nodded, "But she's gonna be here regardless if I tell Gary or not."

"But he might actually be able to do something about it." Terence said.

"I doubt it." Clank sighed. "At this point it's her word against mine."

"And Dad would take your word." Terence said quietly, hearing the footsteps coming up the stairs. "I'll tell him for you if you want."

"No." Clank said just as softly. "No, it has to come from me."

"Okay…" Terence nodded. Gary knocked on the doorframe and he and Dr. Allen entered the room.

"Hey there Clement." Dr. Allen said, giving a friendly smile. "Not feeling well?"

Clank looked away and shrugged. Gary cleared his throat "Terence, why don't we get the girls settled?" He said. "And give your brother some privacy."

Terence looked back at his brother. Clank didn't really want to be left alone with Vidia's father, but for the moment he didn't seem to have any other choice. Terence reluctantly got off the bed and followed Gary out of the room.

"Alrighty, so my daughter says you got sick right after lunch." Dr. Allen said, getting his instruments from his bag. "What did you eat?"

"A sandwich. Ham and cheese." Clank answered. "My friend ate the same thing and didn't get sick."

"I see." Dr. Allen said, "What about breakfast?"

"Pancakes, sausage and hash browns. Same as Gary and Terence." Clank said.

"You seem certain that it isn't food poisoning." Lawrence said.

"Je sais que ce n'était pas." Clank muttered.

"What did you say?" Lawrence asked.

"Nothing." Clank lied.

Lawrence shrugged, then pulled on his gloves "Well, let's have a look at you then."

When Lawrence had finished his examination, Gary had returned upstairs. "Is he alright?" Gary asked.

"He seems fine. There must have just been some bad meat in his lunch." Lawrence said.

Gary looked skeptical "Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure. Make sure he drinks plenty of water, and stick with crackers until his stomach settles down and he should be fine." Lawrence said. "If there's any trouble with him give Clara a call at my office and she'll take a look at him."

Gary shook Lawrence's hand. "Thank you Larry. I'm sorry to bother you with this."

Clank pulled his pillow over his head not wanting to hear them, but could still hear them clearly. "It's no trouble. And thanks again for watching over Vidia and Prilla while we're out of town."

Clank groaned into the pillow "Remember the sick boy? He would like to go to sleep."

"Sorry Clement." Lawrence said. "Let's let him rest."

The adults left the room and Clank pulled the pillow from his face and grabbed his phone. He wasn't sure who he wanted to message first, but decided his friends back home should know his current situation.

After receiving a long list from Pidge about all the terrible things they were going to do to Vidia if she so much as looked at him, Clank heard Dr. and Mrs. Allen leave. He lay on his side and pretended to be asleep, knowing any minute now someone would be coming upstairs.

"So the guest room is taken?" An unfamiliar voice said.

"Yes, my son Clank has that room now, but he and Terence can share this week." Gary's voice replied. "Things are a little disorganized right now Prilla, but we'll figure things out. Just set your bags here and we'll get the room set up when he wakes up."

"He's in your class, right Vidia? What's he like?"

"He's sweet." Vidia replied, and Clank grimaced, clutching his phone tight. "A bit over sensitive though."

Clank wanted to sit up and yell a retort through the door, but Terence replied first "Yeah, well he's had a difficult time. Went through some hard stuff before moving here and some pretty bad stuff since being here too. Vidia." Clank smirked at Terence's accusing tone.

"Alright kids, let's keep it down. I'm going to go get dinner ready." Gary said. Slowly the voices disappeared and Clank embraced the quiet.

He considered staying in his room all night, feigning sleep in order to keep Vidia out of his room, but late in the evening he decided he needed something to eat. He pulled on his sweat pants and headed downstairs. Gary was in his chair and the others were all around the kitchen table working on homework.

Terence noticed Clank first. "Hey! How are you feeling?" He got up from the table and followed Clank to the counter.

"Okay I guess." Clank said. He started making tea and Terence hovered behind him protectively. Clank appreciated it, but knew it was as little silly. What was Vidia going to do here and now in front of her sister?

Clank suddenly remembered that he hadn't actually met this sister yet and turned to the table to get a good look at her. She looked very different from Vidia having curly brown hair rather than the straight black hair Vidia and her father shared. The girl must have been about twelve or thirteen Clank thought. She glanced up from her homework and gave Clank a big smile.

"Hi! You're Clank?" She said sweetly

"Uh huh. And you're… Priscilla?" Clank asked.

"Prilla." She corrected. "You're the cute football player Vidia always talks about, right?"

"Prilla!" Vida hissed, shoving her sister lightly.

Clank frowned and turned back to the tea kettle. "Probably someone else." He muttered.

"Nope! Big with long black hair. Pretty sure she means you." Prilla smiled. Clank had to remind himself that she didn't know about the bad blood between them. "See? She's blushing."

Vidia was in fact red as a cherry and hiding behind her school work. "Prilla quit it." She growled.

Gary cleared his throat from the living room "Prilla, do you want to help me upstairs?"

Prilla hopped up "Sure!" She said and hurried after Gary.

Vidia sighed once they were gone. "Sorry." She muttered.

"Don't." Clank said.

"Clank, I-"

"Just leave him alone, Vidia." Terence said.

She held her tongue for a moment, eying the brothers. "Look, like it or not you're stuck with me for the next week. So you'd better figure out how to like me."

"Or" Terence snapped. "You better figure out how to stay away from my brother."

Vidia glared at Terence. "So you're fighting his battles for him?"

"I've got Clank's back no matter what." Terence said. "So you'd better leave him alone."

Vidia stood up, scooping up Prilla and her homework. "Fine. Whatever." She turned away and hurried up the stairs after her sister.

Clank stared at the tea steeping in his cup. Terence put a hand on his shoulder. "You didn't have to do that you know." Clank said.

"I know." Terence said. "But I just want her to leave you alone."

Clank sighed. "Thank you." He took a sip of his tea. "Hey, since I have to stay here tomorrow, how are you getting to school?"

"Bobble already said he'd pick me up." Terence said. "Even said he'd give Prilla and Vidia a ride."

"That's good. Really kind of him." Clank said. "Gary says he's a trouble maker and doesn't like him."

"But do you like him?" Terence asked.

"He's nice." Clank said. "Has been nothing but kind to me."

"He asked about you a lot after you moved here. He seems to really like you." Terence said. "I know we were kinda joking about it earlier, but do you think you might be interested in dating him?"

Clank shrugged and stared at his tea. "It's too soon to say really. It's possible I guess? I just don't want to dive into a relationship while I'm still grieving. Not to mention my last relationship ended on a really bad note."

"You said your ex was really possessive, right?" Terence asked.

Clank grimaced, remembering his breakup with Chad. "Yeah. Jerk was more interested in sex than anything else. Dumped me because I wouldn't do it."

"Wow." Terence said, astonished.

"We were together for nearly three years." Clank said.

"I'm sorry Clank." Terence said. "Sounds like a real piece of work."

Clank nodded. "Though in the end, he did make the choice easy."

"What did he do?" Terence asked.

Clank chuckled humorlessly "He made me choose between him and my dying mother." Clank noticed Terence's shocked look. "I know, terrible right? Dumped me as soon as I picked mom."

"Wow… What a dick." Terence said.

"My thoughts exactly." Clank agreed.

"Man…" Terence said after a bit. "We need to get you a better date."

"What?!" Clank shot a glare at his brother.

"When you're ready I mean." Terence said quickly. "After your ex, and… and _her_ you really deserve to be with someone better."

Clank smiled into his tea cup. "Thanks."

Hours later Clank was sitting in the living room while Gary was setting up the sofa bed. Terence Vidia and Prilla had all gone upstairs for the night, having school the next morning, but Clank didn't feel very tired having slept all afternoon.

"I took tomorrow off." Gary informed Clank. "So you don't have to stay home alone."

"Oh… Okay." Clank said, not admitting out loud that he would have preferred to have the house to himself. He sat in relative silence, reading his book. He could have offered to help Gary with the bed, but after having to relinquish his own to the Allen sisters, he didn't feel very helpful and let his father figure it out on his own.

"There we go." Gary said finally once the bed was set up. "I remember the days when setting up a bed was easy."

"That's what you get for buying ikea furniture." Clank said, not looking up.

Gary laughed at the comment. "If I recall your mother had plenty of ikea furniture herself."

"She did." Clank nodded. "But she also had me."

"Right, and you're some sort of carpenter then?" Gary chuckled.

Clank shrugged. "Not really. Just good at figuring out how stuff goes together." Gary didn't respond for long enough that Clank got curious and looked up from his book to find his father smiling at him. "What?"

"Nothing." Gary said. "She did a good job with you."

"Oh… Thank you." Clank said. "I guess."

Gary sat on the edge of the sofa bed, still watching Clank which Clank tried to ignore. He could feel the eyes on him still and looked up again. "What?" He asked again.

"Clank, are you doing alright?" Gary asked.

Clank blinked then turned back to his book. "Yeah, fine. Thanks."

"Clement look at me." Gary said. Clank looked up again, and the look Gary was giving him made him set his book aside. "Is everything really alright?"

Clank swallowed. What was Gary getting at? "Things are… better? I guess. Still hurts, you know?"

"I know." Gary said. "You and your mother were very close, weren't you?"

Clank nodded. "She was the only family I knew."

Clank could see his comment bite into Gary. The man cringed but didn't avert his eyes. "I'm sorry, son." He breathed. "Does talking with Dr. Bell help?"

Clank shrugged. "I dunno. I guess?"

"Well you can keep going as long as you want or need to." Gary said. "I know that I'm the last person you'd want to talk to about any of this. I know… I haven't been there for you when it mattered."

Clank felt his heart twinge. "It matters now." He said without thinking.

"What?" Gary asked.

"Nothing." Clank said quickly. "I'm kind of tired… I'm going to go to bed."

"Alright, good night Clement." Gary said. "Oh, and the mattress is a bit lumpy. Sorry about that."

"Okay." Clank said and disappeared up the stairs. He passed his own room, frowning at the closed door and went to the end of the hall to Gary's room. He'd never thought about it before, but he hadn't actually ever been in Gary's bedroom before. It wasn't anything spectacular. Just a large dresser, a king sized bed with a night stand and lamp on either side and a trunk at the foot of the bed.

Clank flopped on the bed and switched on one of the lamps, flipping to his spot in his book again. He read for about ten minutes before he lost interest. He felt weird laying in Gary's room. He glanced at the walls, the dresser and the nightstand. The one he was facing had photo sitting on it. Clank picked it up and rolled to his back. The picture was of Gary on his wedding day. His bride was a pretty blue eyed blond haired woman. She looked a lot like Terence, or rather Terence looked a lot like his mother. Clank had never thought about it before, but it seemed weird now that the woman wasn't around. He couldn't even remember seeing her when he was little. Gary and Terence never mentioned her, and Clank couldn't remember his mother mentioning anything about her either.

Clank set the photo back down and turned away from it. Now facing the other night stand he saw more photos there. There was one of the missing mother, still as young as she was in the wedding photo. There were two of Terence, one as a child and one of his most recent school photo. Clank took the remaining two photos off the night stand. One was his freshman photo. He had almost forgotten how short his hair was a year ago. He had no idea that his mom had sent Gary his school photo. Clank turned the frame over and opened it. He smiled slightly as he pulled out more old school photos of himself that dated all the way back to kindergarten. He wondered why Gary had all these pictures yet never bothered to call all those years.

He closed up the picture frame and set it back on the night stand and held up the last photo. There she was, Chloe Boutin smiling down at him. Young, beautiful, and healthy. Clank might have guessed that this photo was from before he was born. He felt the emotions swell up through him as he ran his fingers down her face.

"Tu me manques maman." He murmured. He felt the tears trickle down his cheek, but ignored it. He switched off the lamp and held his mother's picture close, listening for her voice until he fell asleep.


	16. A Day with Dad

Clank woke up early out of habit. He was still holding his mother's photo which he put back where he'd found it the night before. Like yesterday, he was the first one up so he went down stairs and started making coffee and tea. He wasn't in the mood to make another big breakfast and instead fixed himself a bowl of cereal.

He could hear Gary snoring in the living room while he ate and was reminded that he would be spending the day here with him. Maybe he could feign being sick and just stay in bed all day. Though with Vidia and Prilla staying in his room for the week, would he be allowed in there when they weren't? He figured he should be. It was his room after all.

He heard his phone tweet and checked to see who messaged him.

 **Are you feeling any better?** Bobble had texted him.

 **A little I guess. Still mad about this whole situation.** Clank texted back.

 **Want me to bring you anything?**

 **No thanks. I'm good.**

 **I'm bringing you donuts.** Bobble texted back too quickly to have read Clank's response. Clank snorted a laugh and quickly shot back a response saying Bobble didn't have to do that.

"Good morning Clement." A sleepy sounding Gary greeted as he ambled into the kitchen. "You feeling better this morning?"

"I'm fine." Clank said. Gary went and filled his coffee mug and sat across from Clank. "You can go to work if you want. You don't have to babysit me."

Gary sipped his coffee. "You make this?" Clank nodded, but considered making a comment about coffee fairies coming and making it. "Thanks. And staying home will give me time to straighten things up around here."

"Right." Clank sighed. It was worth a shot he guessed. Terence descended the stairs already dressed for school. He took a bowl from the cupboard and plopped down between Gary and Clank, grabbing the cereal box.

"No feast this morning?" Terence asked in a teasing voice.

"Sorry Terence." Clank shrugged, "I'm not your personal chef."

Terence smirked and dug into his cereal. "I know. It was just really good." He shoveled spoonfuls into his mouth as if he hadn't eaten in weeks.

"Terence, slow down. You're going to choke." Gary scolded.

Terence finished his bowl quickly and set it down. "No I'm not." He said. "Clank, I left my gym clothes in your car yesterday."

"My keys are on the hook." Clank said.

"Can you come with me?" Terence asked.

Clank blinked, but hearing more footsteps coming down the stairs he nodded and went outside with Terence who grabbed his school bag. "Your gym clothes aren't actually in my car are they?" Clank asked.

"No, they are. I had to borrow from Buck yesterday." Terence said. "But it does make a good excuse to get you away from her."

"Can't exactly pull this trick all week you know." Clank said.

"I'll find other ways to protect you." Terence promised.

Clank rolled his eyes "I'm a big boy, Terence I can take care of myself."

"But that doesn't mean I'm not gonna look out for you." Terence said, giving Clank a shove. Clank smirked. He was pretty happy that Terence had his back. He unlocked his car and Terence grabbed his gym bag from the back. They sat on the back of the car, waiting for the Kettletrees to arrive. Clank kept rubbing his arms, wishing he'd thrown on a jacket before he came outside.

Before long the old station wagon pulled up in front of the house and Bobble hopped out with a big donut box. "Good morning!" He greeted cheerfully, jogging toward the brothers. Tink and Peri exited the vehicle, looking half asleep.

"Oh, nice! Donuts" Terence grinned and made a grab for the box.

"Uh uh!" Bobble jerked the box away. "They're not for you."

"What? Come on Bobble." Terence complained, grabbing for the box again.

"I wouldn't try it, Terence. He wouldn't give us any either." Peri said groggily.

"He bought them for Clank and Clank alone apparently." Tinkerbell smirked. "Guess we're not special enough."

Bobble shoved the box into Clank's hands and rounded on his sister. "I told you, they're a get well present! And don't act like you didn't get any." He argued with her.

Tink giggled and nudged Terence "Don't worry, there's more in the car."

"I don't really need a dozen donuts… I said I was fine." Clank said. But he still helped himself to one of the chocolate glazed donuts.

"And I said I was bringing you donuts." Bobble said firmly. "So there you go."

Clank already had a second in his mouth. "You're weird." He said through the dough. "But thank you."

"You're welcome Clankie. Now does someone want to go tell Elphaba and Galinda that it's time to go?" Bobble asked.

"Who and who?" Terence asked.

"Vidia and Prilla." Tink clarified.

"The good and bad witch from the Wizard of Oz." Clank further explained.

"Oh, got it. I'll go tell them." Terence said.

Bobble tugged Clank away from his sisters when Terence went back inside. "How'd everything go last night?" He asked quietly.

"Fine." Clank replied. "Terence is trying to look out for me, but I'll feel a lot better when Vidia's gone."

"I was thinking about that." Bobble said, "I could ask my mom if you could stay with us for the week. That way you'd be away from her. What do you think?"

Clank sighed "I would love that, really. But I don't think Gary would go for that."

Bobble shoved his hands in his pockets and chewed his lip in thought. "That's true, but it wouldn't hurt to ask him, would it? I mean what would Gary do?" Bobble asked and then in his best Gary impression continued "Clank, that Bobble is a trouble maker who will drag you down the path of darkness if you so much as breathe the same air as him!"

Clank cracked up. "He wouldn't say that." He said through the laughter that had Tink and Peri's attention.

"Aye, probably not." Bobble agreed. "But my offer stands. If you can get Gary to let you stay with me I'm sure my mom wouldn't mind."

Clank watched as Vidia and Prilla followed Terence out of the house. "I'll think about it." He said.

"Okay." Bobble smiled. "And hey, if you even just need to run away for a couple hours, my door's open."

"Thanks." Clank said.

"Alright, I gotta go." Bobble announced with a pat on Clank's shoulder. "I'll see you after school!"

Clank waved goodbye to them and could see Terence grabbing the donuts as soon as they drove off.

Back inside, Gary had changed into his day clothes and was trying to turn the sofa bed back into a couch. Clank watched from the kitchen while drinking his tea, half amused at his father's struggle.

"Clank!" He called finally. "Do you mind giving me a hand before I break this thing?"

Clank smirked and went to help Gary. "Watch and learn." He shooed Gary away and in ten minutes the bed was transformed back into a couch and Clank was smiling proudly.

"Wow." Gary said, impressed. "I can't believe how much smarter you are than I am." He joked.

Clank couldn't help but chuckle. "Well, you know. You said it, not me."

Gary pat him on the shoulder. "Well, I can't argue the facts." He said. "You should get dressed. I need to get something from the attic."

"Okay." Clank said. He headed upstairs and into his bedroom. He grimaced at the state it was in. His bed wasn't made, the blankets were in a lumpy mess. There were two sets of pajamas in the middle of the floor and a bra on the back of his chair. The girls' suitcases were laying open beside his dresser. He gathered up the dirty clothes and tossed them into a pile beside them. He glanced to his desk again where there was an unfamiliar laptop and tablet sitting beside his computer. He noticed that his lion that Keith had given him wasn't on the desk's shelf where he left it.

With an annoyed sigh, Clank looked around for his lion. He dug through everything, muttering to himself that they had no reason to touch his stuff. He finally found it when he pulled back his covers. Its tail was sticking out from under the pillows.

He pulled it out and put it back on the shelf where it belonged and pulled the sheets the rest of the way back in order to make the bed properly. "Oh gross," he groaned at the sheets, finding blood stains on them. He tried not to let it bother him too much as he'd run into this problem in years past when Pidge slept over. He pulled the sheets of the bed and threw them toward the door to go in the laundry.

With things now in a bit better order, Clank went to his desk. He dug through the drawer looking for a pad of paper to leave a note for Vidia to kindly leave his things alone when he felt a small box in the back of the drawer. Curiously he pulled it out. It was a small present. Clank opened the card and remembered where it came from. It was the present his neighbor Jean had given him which had been left unopened.

He was very tempted to open it, but the card had instructed him to wait three months to open it. How was it possible that he had only been there for two? He counted again in his head, and sure enough he'd only been living here for two months. Maybe a peek wouldn't hurt though. He started to lift the lid, but stopped himself. "Not yet." He said. He put the box and the pad of paper back in the drawer and went to find Gary.

At the end of the hall the attic door was open, Clank looked up the latter but didn't see anyone. "Gary?" He called up.

"I'm up here!" Gary's voice rang from the hatch.

"Do you need any help up there?" Clank asked.

"No, I'll be down in a moment." Gary shouted back.

"I think I left my book in your room." Clank called. "I'm gonna go get it and go do my homework."

"Alright" Gary answered.

Clank went around the latter and to Gary's room and found that his bed wasn't made either. Clank figured since he was the one who used the bed he might as well make it. He took a few minutes to do that and retrieved his book from the night stand where he saw Gary's wedding photo again. Clank hesitated and picked up the photo again.

"Clank?" Gary appeared in the doorway. "Can you give me a hand?"

"Oh, sure." Clank said, He set the photo down and followed Gary to Terence's room. "What do you need?"

"I need help setting up this spare bed." Gary said. "Do you mind doing that while I inflate the air mattress."

Clank frowned. "What's this for?"

"Now that you're feeling better, you're going to stay in here with Terence while the girls are staying with us." Gary explained.

"Why can't they just stay on the sofa?" Clank asked as he started setting up the bed.

"It's only fair that they get a room so they can have some privacy. I figured you would understand that since you let Silvermist sleep in your room last month." Gary explained.

"I guess." Clank muttered. "I don't want them in my room though."

"Clank, do you have an issue with Vidia?" Gary asked.

Clank didn't answer. He quit working on the bed and just stared into his lap. He should tell Gary. But he couldn't find the right words.

"I see." Gary said. "That bad? What happened then?"

"I didn't say anything happened." Clank said.

"You didn't have to." Gary said.

"What, did your 'Father's Intuition' tell you something happened?" Clank asked irritability.

"No, but the fact that you're Chloe Boutin's son did." Gary replied. Clank's head shot up at that and Gary smiled knowingly. "I dated your mother for two years, Clank. I see a lot of her in you. I knew something bad must have upset you yesterday when you got sick. Chloe used to do the same thing when something really upset her. And right now you have the same look she got when she was confronted about something she didn't know how to talk about. So what happened Clank? What happened with Vidia?"

Clank looked away. He wished his mom were here. He could tell her anything. He barely knew Gary, he didn't know what to expect from Gary. "I don't want to talk about it." He said barely above a whisper.

Gary sighed. "If only your mother were here. She was always better at talking through things."

Clank fidgeted with his pant leg for a moment. "Why did you break up with mom?" He asked, still not looking at Gary.

Gary appeared to be just as uncomfortable as Clank felt. "I wasn't in love with her anymore." Gary said. "I'd fallen in love with someone else. I never cheated, but I wanted to do right by Chloe and end things rather than stay when we weren't right for each other."

"But you left me too. How could you abandon your son like that?" Clank asked.

"Clank I didn't know Chloe was pregnant when we broke up. She never told me. I only found out after I was engaged to Terence's mother. If she had told me then maybe things would have been different." Gary explained. He looked distraught. "I even considered going back to Chloe when I found out. But she made it clear she wasn't going to take me back."

Clank folded his arms over his knees. "Is that why you never called over the years?"

Gary frowned. "It's part of it. Things were a lot easier when you and your mother lived in town. But after you moved away it was hard to keep in touch. I tried to call every week but would be so caught up with Terence that I would forget. Eventually your mother told me not to bother."

"That's a bad excuse." Clank said bitterly. "It doesn't matter if it was too hard. Nothing's ever easy. You should have tried harder."

"I know." Gary sighed. "I'm sorry. Chloe was a much better parent than I am."

"She was." Clank agreed crossly.

"Maybe if I had been in a better place back then I could better balance out my time with you and Terence. I wish I could somehow change the past and be a better father to you." Gary said.

"You seemed to be in a better place than mom. You had a pretty wife, a baby boy and a good job." Clank said. Gary suddenly looked more wounded than before. "Where is your wife anyway?"

Gary smiled sadly "With Chloe." He answered.

Clank gasped. "I… I'm sorry. When did she…?"

"About fourteen years ago." Gary said. "Terence wasn't even six month old yet so he doesn't remember her."

"That's awful…" Clank said. "How did… how did it happen?"

"She was hit by a car." Gary said. "I was home sick with the flu and Terence was napping while she went to get me some medicine." Gary's voice shook and he tried to steady it. "Some punk kid was on their phone and didn't see her. He took my wife away that day."

Clank's heart ached for Gary's loss. It ached for his own. He could see how the loss of his wife was still hard for him. "The pain doesn't go away does it?" Clank mumbled.

Gary shook his head slowly. "No. But it lessens over time. I just wish I had gotten help sooner."

"What was her name?" Clank asked.

"Elaine." Gary said.

"Elaine…" Clank repeated. "Did mom know her?"

Gary chuckled. "Oh yes, your mother knew her. I'll tell you what, let's finish up here and I'll tell you about her."

They got the spare bed set up and afterwards Gary was sitting in the living room with Clank and a photo album. Clank didn't know how to feel about getting to know his late step mother, but he was curious about her connection to Chloe. Gary opened up the album and there was an array of photos of Elaine. She was a beautiful woman, and Clank again noticed how much she looked like Terence.

"I met Elaine about two years before you were born." Gary said. "I was working security at the hospital and she worked in gynecology. We only really saw each other in passing, and at the time I was still with Chloe."

"Uh huh…" Clank responded. He wasn't really interested in this part, but didn't want to ask Gary to skip it.

"We officially met when a child had wandered out of his room in pediatrics and into her ward looking for his mother. She intercepted the child and I went to bring the boy back to his room." Gary said. "We ran into each other a few times and eventually became friends. About two months after I met her I realized I was falling for her. I tried to avoid her and stay faithful to Chloe, but things between us were beginning to fall apart already."

"So you broke it off with her and got with Elaine?" Clank asked.

Gary sighed. "In a word, yes. That is ultimately what happened. I never intended to hurt Chloe son. I was trying to do right by her. I thought… I though she would find someone better than me." Clank crossed his arms and turned away. Gary frowned. "She just seemed to disappear after that. I got with Elaine, and I just knew that she was the one. We only dated six months before I asked her to marry me. But I just _knew_ it was right."

Clank was less than interested in Gary's story at this point and instead started to flip through the photo album in hopes of finding at least one picture of his mother. Gary held the page down before Clank could turn anther. "Clank, I know you don't really want to hear about my love life, but please…" Clank rolled his eyes. "Elaine and I were out shopping one day and we ran into one of her patients."

"Mom?" Clank asked, now interested again.

"Yes." Gary answered. "She was somewhere around seven months pregnant. I had no idea. Needless to say I was shocked. I apologized over and over, asked her what she wanted to do, what she wanted me to do, if she wanted me to come back – all in front of my fiancé mind you – but Chloe told me that she just wanted me to stay away."

"What did Elaine think about all this?" Clank asked.

"Well, as it turns out she knew all along that Chloe's baby was mine. But Chloe didn't know her doctor was engaged to her baby's father." Gary exhaled heavily. "Things were weird after that. Chloe wanted nothing to do with me, and Elaine insisted I… _we_ do what we could to help her. She said it was important for me to be a part of my son's life."

"Yeah, and you've done a real great job with that." Clank grumbled.

"Clank, please."

"Why didn't mom get a new doctor?" Clank asked. "Rather than stay with the woman who made her boyfriend betray her."

"Clank." Gary said sternly, "Chloe did get a new doctor. She went to an entirely different hospital. But my Elaine was a very persistent woman. She kept Chloe's number and called her every day to make sure she was alright. I'm not sure how it happened, but your mother and Elaine became friends. In fact, they got close enough that Chloe actually allowed me to come to the last few doctor's visits before you were born so long as Elaine was there too. And before you ask, no she didn't go back to having Elaine as her doctor. But when she went into labor, Elaine was the first person she called." Gary turned the page in the photo album. It was filled with pictures of Chloe in the hospital holding her baby boy. Some photos had Gary, others had Elaine, it looked like none of them could stop smiling at the baby.

"Wow…" Clank said, pulling the album into his lap. "I was fat then too." Gary chuckled beside him while Clank studied the chunky black haired baby in the photos.

"I was two hours late to the birth." Gary admitted. "But Elaine took care of your mother through the whole thing. And the first time I held you, it was the single most terrifying moment of my life. I was scared that I would mess up somehow, even if it was just hugging you too tight. But you were the most amazing thing I'd ever seen. And I was even more amazed that Chloe had decided to give you my name."

"I thought that was your idea." Clank said.

Gary shook his head. "Chloe never discussed names with anyone, and it was already made official by the time I met you."

"I guess part of her still cared about you." Clank mumbled.

"I guess so." Gary agreed. "Anyway. Elaine and I got married a couple months later. You and your mother were invited to the wedding – Elaine's idea – but you two weren't there. And after our honeymoon, we saw your mother nearly every day and Elaine just adored you. She always agreed to babysit whenever Chloe needed. And even though it was… really awkward for me… your mother and Elaine were incredibly close."

"Are you okay?" Clank asked. Gary had sounded a little annoyed when he said that his and Terence's mothers were friends.

"I'm fine." Gary said with a slight shake of the head. "Anyway, as I said Elaine loved you." He showed Clank pictures of him as a baby. Some with Elaine, some with Chloe and some with both. There seemed to be very few pictures of Gary with him though. "It's because of you, Elaine wanted to start having kids as early as we did."

"She sounds nice." Clank admitted.

"She was." Gary agreed. "I'm glad her nickname stuck."

"What nickname?" Clank asked.

Gary smirked. "Your nickname Clank."

"My nickname?" Clank asked, dumbfounded. "That came from Terence's mom? How?"

"Well, she was babysitting you one day when you were a bit older and more mobile, and from what she told me, you were getting into the pots and pans and making as much noise as you could with them." Gary said. "When Chloe came to pick you up, Elaine called you 'Little Clanky" and Chloe called you that all the time afterwards."

"Wow." Clank sighed. "I had no idea. I mean, Mom did tell me the name came from a babysitter, but I had no idea it was Terence's mom."

"I'm honestly surprised that Chloe never told you about her." Gary said.

"Mom didn't really like talking about life before we moved." Clank said. "But I didn't really ask either. I was really happy with how things were. Mom and my friends were all I really needed."

Gary frowned. "I'm sorry I wasn't a part of that."

Clank didn't answer and picked up a photo of Chloe and Elaine. Elaine was holding him and he looked to be about a year old while Chloe was holding a tiny baby who must have been Terence. "Why aren't you in any of these pictures?"

"I was holding the camera." Gary said, looking at another photo. "It's truly unfair. They were both incredible women. I wish there was some way it could have been me instead of them."

"Gary don't say that." Clank said. "Just because I want Mom back doesn't mean I want you dead."

Gary shook his head. "I know, I'm sorry. It just feels like I've been cursed or something. That the women I've loved meet terrible fates. That's why I never dated anyone else after Elaine."

"But aren't you interested in Ms. Kettletree?" Clank asked.

"What gave you that idea?"

"Bobble said you flirt with her." Clank shrugged.

"Well, I'm friendly with her. And she is a very lovely woman." Gary admitted. "But it's probably better for her if I don't pursue a romance with her."

Clank hummed and didn't say anything more on the matter. He didn't believe for a second that his father was cursed, but he did know that Bobble wouldn't enjoy it if Gary dated Ms. Kettletree. He did feel bad for Gary though.

"Anyway," Gary said. "I've got enough to worry about with you and Terence to think about my own personal life."

Clank rolled his eyes. "You know, Mom told me that once when I asked her why she never dated anyone."

Gary frowned. "Is that so? Well, I'm glad she had her priorities straight." He said.

Clank furrowed his brow. "Is something wrong?"

"No, not at all." Gary said, standing. He picked up the photo album and put it back on the shelf.

"Okay…" Clank said. He had a feeling that Gary wasn't telling him something but the man was acting off now so Clank figured he wouldn't get any answers now. "Um, thanks for telling me about your wife. I'm… I'm going to go do my homework now."

Gary nodded. "Alright. I'll leave you to it." He went into the back room and Clank got his backpack and hid in his room. Around lunch time, he brought down the sheets from his bed and threw them in the washer. He made lunch and sat at the kitchen table. While he ate he got a text from Silvermist.

 **I heard you got sick yesterday. Are you okay?**

Clank replied: **I'm fine. I should be back tomorrow.**

Sil replied with a blue heart, and a moment later said: **Come talk to me tomorrow, okay?**

 **Okay.** Clank replied.

He finished his homework after lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon on his computer. He heard Terence return home and gathered his things and left his room, supposing now that the Allen sisters were back it was no longer his space.

Clank headed towards the stairs, hearing Vidia at the bottom. "Come on Prilla we need to go clean up our mess before- Oh! Hey Clank." She said, avoiding his gaze.

"I already picked up in there." He said. "The bedding is in the dryer. Should be done now."

Vidia seemed to turn red. "Thanks. Prilla, come help me." The sisters went off to the laundry room.

Clank saw Terence in the kitchen setting up his study area. "Hey." Clank greeted, taking a seat beside him.

"Hey, Clank. You feeling better?" Terence asked.

"I feel fine." Clank said.

"Tinkerbell says hi."

"They didn't stick around?" Clank asked. He looked out the window and saw no station wagon.

Terence shook his head. "No. I asked if they wanted to come in for a bit, but Bobble apparently had something to take care of. I dunno, he didn't say much."

"He seemed kinda cranky to me." Prilla said as she followed Vidia to the stairs with her arms full of sheets.

"Cranky how?" Clank asked.

"Well he wasn't all chatty like he was this morning." Prilla said.

"He was like that at track too." Vidia said. "Come on Prilla." She headed up the stairs.

Prilla hung back for a moment. "He probably just had a bad day, you know? Those happen sometimes."

"Oh, okay." Clank said. "Thanks Prilla."

"No problem!" She said with a smile.

"Prilla!" Vidia called from upstairs.

"Coming!" She yelled and ran up to join her sister.

"She's right actually." Terence said. "Though I don't think cranky is the word I'd have used. But Bobble did seem kinda distant."

Clank frowned. He didn't really know Bobble that well yet, but as kind as Bobble had been to him the last few days it made him worry that his mood had shifted so much from that morning. He woke his phone and called him.

"You've reached Phineas Kettletree. Leave a message." The phone went straight to voicemail.

Clank cleared his throat, "Uh. Hey, Bobble. It's Clank. I… um… I guess I was just…. I was wondering…" Clank suddenly could not give a reason why he called and awkwardly before hanging up said "Thanks for the donuts."


	17. Step Back

It was the middle of the night and Clank lay on the temporary bed in Terence's room unable to fall asleep. He had a lot on his mind, from hearing about Gary's past to Bobble not stopping to see him after school. He was frequently checking his phone, hoping that maybe Bobble would at least text him a "you're welcome" message, but he hadn't heard from him for the rest of the day. He glanced over at Terence in his bed. Careful not to wake his brother, Clank rolled over and grabbed his phone.

He lit up the screen, and it flashed 1:26 AM. No messages, no missed calls. He sighed and dropped the phone on his pillow.

"He's probably asleep Clank… stop checking your phone." Terence mumbled.

"Sorry." Clank whispered. "Didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's fine. Just go to sleep." Terence said.

Clank stared at the ceiling. He wasn't really all that tired. His fingers were itching to grab the phone again, but he resisted. "Hey Terence?"

"Yeah?"

"Did Gary ever tell you stuff about your mom?" Clank asked.

Terence rolled to face Clank. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, he was telling me about her today." Clank said. "Did you know she was friends with my mom?"

"No, but it doesn't surprise me." Terence said. "Your mom used to send me birthday cards."

"She did?"

"Yeah, hang on I'll show you." Terence reached under his bed and grabbed a shoe box. "She always sent me these nice hand made cards, usually with a little money in them."

"I had no idea." Clank said, flipping through the cards. Most just said Happy birthday and had Chloe's signature. A couple had a short note or two from her. The two that caught Clank's attention though had large scribbled capital letter K. "I signed this?"

"That was when I turned four. I think the other one is the next year." Terence said. "I never thought to ask Dad why some lady was sending me cards along with your picture until I was about eight I think."

"Wonder why she didn't have me sign them anymore." Clank said.

"It's no big deal. Though I guess I'm not getting anymore cards from her." Terence said. Clank's shoulders slumped. "Oh… I'm sorry I didn't mean…"

"It's fine. It just hurts." Clank said.

Terence watched Clank go through the cards again, gently touching each signature as he did. "Y'know, as strange as this sounds, I wish I knew how you felt."

"Trust me, no you don't." Clank said.

"Well I guess I don't really want to hurt like you. But, well… I wish I had the opportunity to? I mean… I don't know." Terence fumbled over his words.

"I think I get it." Clank sighed. "You wish you'd known your mom, right?"

"Yeah." Terence sighed. "From what Dad's told me, she was a real nice lady. But I don't remember her at all. I wish I were close to her like you were to your mom. I'm sad she's not here, but I don't exactly miss her, you know? I mean, how can I miss someone I never really knew?"

"I know. That's why I never really missed Gary." Clank admitted.

"But y'know, when I met Tink, her mom kinda took on the roll of my mom too." Terence said. "She's really protective of me and even took the blame a couple times when I missed curfew while Tink and I were hanging out."

"Did that with me too." Clank said. "When I slept over there on Saturday, I wasn't invited, I just kinda fell asleep. Mary called Gary and told him she insisted I stay."

Terence laughed. "Yeah, she's pretty great. But speaking of just falling asleep, we should probably do that."

"You're right. Sorry." Clank sighed and fell back on his pillows. He continued to stare at the ceiling, but still didn't feel tired. He started thinking about Bobble and his family. That weird, weird family. "Terence?"

Terence sighed heavily. "Yeah?"

"Do you know about their relatives?" Clank asked.

"Tink's relatives?"

"Yeah."

"I met their grandpa once." Terence said. "Went to thanksgiving at his house last year."

"What'd you think of their uncle?" Clank asked.

"What uncle?"

"The one with a metal arm and a peg leg." Clank answered.

"What are you talking about?" Terence asked.

Clank sighed. "Never mind. So what was Thanksgiving like?"

"I dunno, Clank. It was like Thanksgiving. Lots of food, and a food coma. It was kinda cool since it was at Mr. Kettletree's giant house, but other than that it was just Thanksgiving." Terence groaned. "Now go to sleep."

"Giant house?" Clank wondered.

"Clank!" Terence snapped.

"Right, right. Sorry." Clank said. Terence rolled over again, and after a moment Clank figured he'd fallen asleep. He clutched his phone by his hip, wanting to check it again. Frustrated at his inability to rest, Clank sat up and crept quietly from the room as to not disturb Terence again. He checked his phone again when he was in the hallway. 1:58. No messages. "Probably asleep." He muttered. He really needed to get to sleep too.

Clank went to the kitchen to make a cup of herbal tea. That ought to knock him out for the night. He at least hoped it would. He sat at the kitchen table with his tea, scrolling through his phone and letting his mind wander. He only glanced up when he heard the stairs creak, and saw Vidia stopped about half way down the stairs. She stared at him for a moment before turning to go back up.

"You need something?" Clank asked.

Vidia hesitated. "It's nothing. Sorry I bothered you."

"Vidia." Clank called after her before she could make it to the top of the stairs. "Vidia, come back."

She sighed and came back down the stairs, shooting an irritated glare in Clank's direction. "What?"

"Are you alright?" Clank asked.

Vidia's eyebrows shot up. "I'm… I'm fine." She said. "I'm just having trouble sleeping is all."

"Cramps?" Clank asked.

Vidia glowered at him. "Not every problem a girl has is because of cramps."

"So…it's not cramps?" Clank asked.

Vidia rolled her eyes. "Well, it is actually. But I hate it when people just assume it's cramps."

Clank just shrugged. "Is Prilla alright?"

"She's fine." Vidia said. "She doesn't usually get cramps."

"Isn't your dad a doctor? Why don't you have some kind of prescription pain killers?" Clank asked.

"Probably because I didn't tell my dad about it." Vidia shrugged.

"Why?" Clank asked.

"You think it's easy to talk to my dad about this?" Vidia asked.

"So tell your mom." Clank said.

"Gee, thanks Clank I never thought of that!" Vidia said sarcastically. "If you must know I don't usually get cramps so I wasn't expecting to hurt this much!"

"Fine, geez!" Clank backed off. "So what do you need? Pain killers? They're in the bathroom."

"I already got some." Vidia said.

"So… then why did you come down here instead of going back to bed?" Clank asked.

"Who cares?" Vidia asked. "What are you doing up anyway?"

Clank shrugged. "Can't sleep."

"Why not?" Vidia asked.

"I dunno, just can't."

"So take some Z-quil" Vidia said.

"No, I don't take sleep aids." Clank replied.

"Why not?" Vidia asked.

"Is that really any of your business?" Clank asked, but noticed Vidia's smirk. "What?"

"Nothing." She said. "Just a little payback for all the questions you asked me."

"What's with you and payback?" Clank crossed his arms and looked away.

Vidia cast her eyes downward. "Sorry." She muttered.

Clank glanced at her. She was clearly upset and Clank had a guess why. "Forget about it. You want some tea?"

"Sure." She muttered.

Clank fixed her a cup of green tea and grabbed her a banana from the counter. "This always helped my friend Pidge when they got cramps. That and peanut butter."

"Thanks." She said. Clank sat across from her and sipped at his own tea, not really feeling anymore tired than he did when he came downstairs. "You know, It's not any easier on me being here than it is for you."

"Can we not talk about this?" Clank asked.

"I'm just saying, I know you don't want me here and the feeling is mutual." Vidia explained.

"Vidia. I don't want to talk about it." Clank said. He threw back the rest of his tea, "Now goodnight. I hope you feel better." He got up and put his cup away.

"Thanks…" Vidia sighed. Clank looked back at her one more time before retreating upstairs.

Clank didn't get much sleep that night and actually woke up to his alarm rather than before it. Terence had already left the room and Clank took his time getting dressed. He looked one more time at his phone for a message from Bobble and there was nothing.

Prilla was at the kitchen table finishing her breakfast and Terence was doing the dishes. Clank wasn't all that hungry and just grabbed pop tarts from the cupboard.

"Morning!" Prilla greeted.

"Hey." Clank said sleepily. "Where's your sister?"

"Still in bed." Prilla answered. "Should I go get her?"

"Yeah, probably." Clank said with a yawn. "Don't want to be late."

Prilla nodded and ran upstairs. Clank leaned against the counter by Terence while he ate his pop tarts. "You finally manage to get to sleep last night?" Terence asked. Clank merely groaned in response. "Dad's already left for work. He said for you to call him if you were still sick."

"I'm fine." Clank said.

Prilla returned with her sister and continued eating breakfast. Vidia looked just as tired as Clank felt. She flopped in the seat beside Prilla, mumbling protests of being awake.

"C'mon guys, we need to get going." Terence said. It was still plenty early, so Clank didn't really know why he was rushing them. He didn't argue and they were all soon off to school. He dropped Prilla at the middle school and got to the high school fifteen minutes before the first bell.

They headed into the school and into the cafeteria. There were students slowly starting to trickle in and find friends. Silvermist was already there and was sitting alone with a text book in front of her as she wrote in a notebook.

Before Clank could call out to Sil, Vidia beat him to it. "Hey Sil!" She greeted and went to sit by her. Clank frowned. Silvermist had wanted to talk to him, but now that Vidia was with her he wasn't sure he wanted to go over there too.

"Clank!" Sil called to him just as he was turning to leave. She waved him over, and with a sigh, Clank reluctantly went to join her with Terence close beside him.

"Good morning." Clank said.

"Hi" Silvermist smiled sweetly. "You feeling better?"

"Yeah, I'm good." Clank nodded. "Did I miss anything yesterday?"

"Nothing too noteworthy." She said.

"Just two pop quizzes and a free pizza party during football practice." Vidia said.

"Wait what?" Clank asked.

"Kidding." Vidia said. "It was just one pop quiz."

Clank rolled his eyes. "So you wanted to talk to me Silvermist?"

"Um…" Sil quickly glanced at Vidia. "Well, not about anything important I guess… I… I just haven't seen you in a while, you know? I kinda miss you."

"Oh, um… okay." Clank shrugged. "I kinda miss you too."

"Are you free after school today?" Silvermist asked. "Maybe we can hang out."

"That would be nice." Vidia said. Sil frowned and Terence grimaced.

Clank would have loved to spend the afternoon with Silvermist, but not if Vidia was going to invite herself along. "I'd love to, but I've got an appointment with Dr. Bell after practice today."

Silvermist nodded. "That's alright. Another time maybe."

"Maybe Saturday." Vidia suggested.

Terence groaned irritably. "Vidia, I'm pretty sure Sil and Clank wanna spend time alone, y'know?"

She frowned. "Fine, I get it. I've gotta help Prilla with her homework anyway." She got up and stepped away from the table. "I'll see you later, Clank." Vidia trailed her fingertips along his shoulder as she walked off, making Clank shiver.

Silvermist eyed Vidia until she was certain she couldn't hear anymore. "Can you come over after your appointment?" She asked.

"Maybe. Why what's up?" Clank asked.

"I really need to talk to you, but I don't think we should talk at school, okay?" Sil said seriously.

Clank shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I could come over." He turned to Terence. "Do you think Gary would be fine with that?"

"I don't think it'll be a problem." Terence said. "If it is, I'll deal with it for you."

"Thanks." Clank said. "Yeah, I'll come over later."

"Hey guys, what's up?" Tink asked, startling Clank. She and Peri had come over to them without anyone noticing.

"Morning Tink. How are you?" Terence asked as he hugged her.

"Oh, you know. Awake and at school when I wish I was asleep." Tink laughed.

"Same here" Terence agreed. "Morning Periwinkle."

"Good morning." She smiled. "Glad to see you're back, Clank."

"Thanks." Clank said. "Where's your brother?"

"He went to shop class." Peri answered. "You know he practically lives there. Tink would too if she didn't have a social life."

"Yeah, but I'm still in there a lot too." Tink said.

Sil pat Clank's shoulder and he turned back to her. "Do you want to go see Bobble?"

Clank shook his head. "I do, but there's not really enough time before we gotta go to class."

"Oh yeah, I'm supposed to tell you Bobble's gonna eat lunch in the library today." Tink said. "Said you can join him if you want."

"Okay, thanks." Clank said. The group got up and went their separate ways when the bell rang. Silvermist walked with Clank to his locker.

"Sounds like you made a friend." She said.

"Yeah, Bobble's really nice." Clank smiled.

"I knew you two would get along." Sil said. "Do you want me to invite him over too?"

Clank shook his head. "I'm gonna see him at lunch. And besides, I barely get to spend any time with you."

Sil smiled at him. "Fair enough. I'll see you later okay?"

"Alright." Clank nodded. They waved goodbye and headed to class.

The morning passed by as normal and when it came to be lunch time, Clank was as usual greeted by Vidia at the bottom of the stairs. Something seemed a bit off about her, but Clank chose not to mention it out loud. He couldn't quite put his finger on what was different, but something about Vidia seemed less confident than usual.

"You're meeting Bobble for lunch again." She said.

Clank noticed the negative tone of her voice. "Yeah, I am."

"You two sure hit it off quickly." Vidia sighed. "Though I guess I'm not surprised."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Clank asked as they made their way to the lunch line.

"Nothing. Forget about it." Vidia said.

Clank raised an eyebrow but said nothing. He got his lunch and paid for it. Vidia, right behind him paid for hers and followed after him. She grabbed his sleeve suddenly and tugged him back before he stepped out to the lunch tables.

"Go around that way." She pointed to the back wall of the room. "That way Dozer won't snatch you up."

Clank, surprised, looked over where Dozer normally sat and noticed him looking around, and saw him grab Rumble to sit with the rest of the jocks. "Thanks." Clank said.

"Don't worry about it." Vidia said. "Just go. Don't keep Bobble waiting."

Clank nodded and navigated around the back of the lunch room. He went directly to the library once he reached the hallway. When he got there, he didn't see Bobble anywhere and wondered if he might have gone somewhere else. He was about to go and look for him elsewhere when Bobble stepped out of a room behind the check out desk.

"Hey Bobble." Clank greeted, approaching the desk.

Bobble looked up and half smiled at Clank. "Hey. My stuff's back there." He said, gesturing to the room he'd just left. "I'm renewing a book, I'll be back there in a minute."

"Okay." Clank said. He went in the room and sat at the table back there and started eating his lunch. Bobble's school bag was slung over the back of the opposite chair, and he had a notebook with math homework open in front of the seat. Off to the side was a tablet sitting in the dock of a wireless keyboard. What Clank didn't notice was any lunch Bobble had for himself.

Bobble sank into the chair and shoved the renewed book into his bag and turned to his notebook. He began scribbling down equations and worked through them, chewing on his eraser every so often while he worked. He didn't even pay any mind that Clank was there.

"Hey, um… Bobble?" Clank spoke up.

"Hmm?" Bobble answered, not even looking up.

"Aren't you gonna eat anything?" Clank asked.

"I've got a couple granola bars." Bobble replied.

Clank bit his lip. He knew how much of a big eater Bobble was. He still had his fries and his applesauce left on his tray. He slid it over to Bobble as Bobble reached over to wake up his tablet.

The red head blinked at the food in front of him and he finally looked up at Clank. "I'm fine, Clank. You don't need to give me your food."

"I don't mind." Clank said. "I'm full anyway."

Bobble shrugged and took a fry and dipped it in the applesauce before turning to type on his tablet. Clank saw what Prilla meant by him seeming cranky. Bobble, up til now, had always been really chatty with him. But they'd been sitting there for a solid ten minutes and Bobble had barely said a word.

"Bobble, is everything okay?" Clank asked.

"Hmm?" He still didn't look at Clank, focused more on his tablet.

"Are you listening to me?"

Bobble stared at his tablet a moment longer before he turned to Clank. "Aye, sorry. I'm just… I'm trying to get something taken care of." Bobble said, taking another applesauce dipped fry.

"What are you working on?" Clank asked, leaning over the table to see.

Bobble quickly locked his tablet and turned to his math work instead. "Just math homework. No big deal."

Clank scowled. "Okay, but what were you doing on your tablet?"

Bobble shook his head. "Don't worry about it."

"Bobble, is something wrong? You're acting strange." Clank said.

Bobble looked up from his math work again and sighed as he met Clank's gaze. "Clank, you're dealing with enough right now that I don't want to burden you with my problems, alright? I promise it's nothing I can't handle."

Clank's eyebrows shot up. That certainly wasn't what he expected. "I don't mind. What's wrong?"

Bobble chewed his thumbnail for a moment. "Well, I got in a bit of trouble for doing something stupid again. Now I'm trying to… no, never mind. Don't worry about it."

"Trouble? So you're grounded again?" Clank asked. "Lemme guess. Your mom messed up your tablet and now you're trying to fix it."

"What? No! I'm not grounded. My tablet is fine." Bobble said. "Look, I made someone mad is all. I'm just trying to smooth things over."

Clank smirked slightly. "Oh boy. What did you do?"

Bobble grimaced. "Can we not talk about that?" He asked.

Clank chuckled. "Okay, sorry."

Bobble rolled his eyes, which then fell on Clank's hand. "How's the cut?"

Clank shrugged. "It's fine. It's already scabbing over. How's yours?"

Bobble's hand was still wrapped in a bandage. He drummed his fingers a couple times. "It's fine." His tablet screen lit up and he pulled it closer to check the message he'd gotten. Bobble chewed his nail again, his brows tightly knit.

"What's up?" Clank asked him.

"Nothing…" Bobble said, still staring at the screen. "Hey, you still want to get lunch on Saturday?"

"Yeah, of course." Clank said.

Bobble seemed to be pondering something and took a long moment to speak again. "Is Terence still grounded?"

"He won't be by Saturday." Clank said.

"Good. Invite him to come with us." Bobble said. "Tell him Tink and Peri are coming too."

"Oh… Okay?" Clank wasn't sure what to think. He had hoped he could hang out with just Bobble. He didn't have anything against his sisters, but thought that their frequent teasing might stress things.

"Okay." Bobble said. He shut off the tablet and put it, the keyboard and his math notes in his bag. "I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Bobble!" Clank grabbed his bag as Bobble headed for the door. "What the heck is going on?"

Bobble smiled at him, and Clank let go. "It's nothing, I promise. Everything's fine."

"I'm not sure I believe you." Clank said.

"I know, I'm acting really weird, but I'm fine, really." Bobble said. "Maybe once you're in a better place I'll tell you more what's going on, but I really don't want my problems to bother you."

Clank frowned. "Okay… but you promise you're really okay?"

"I promise I'm really okay." Bobble said with a nod. "Trust me, if things weren't okay I'd be a lot more frantic."

Clank somehow doubted that given what he'd seen so far of his new friend. "If you say so…"

The bell rang and they had to part ways. The rest of the day progressed same as usual, with the exception of Vidia's less than confident attitude and Bobble 'being really okay I promise.' Clank noticed both of them seemed slower as they ran their laps at the end of the day. Clank tried to catch up with Bobble in the locker room, but he seemed to disappear before Clank could even get there.

He found him soon after changing, talking with Silvermist in the parking lot. Clank would have stopped to talk as well, but he had to get everyone back to Gary's so he could get to his therapy appointment. He dropped Terence and the girls off and hurried to Dr. Bell's office.

"How are you feeling today, Clement?" Dr. Bell asked him once Clank was in the back with him.

"I dunno." Clank sighed. "How are you?"

Dr. Bell smirked. "I'm fine, thank you. Did you have a good day at school?"

Clank wasn't sure if he did or not. "I had a weird day." He said.

"Oh? Weird how?"

"Just weird okay?" Clank said. "Everything in this town is weird. Everything and everyone. Especially Bobble."

"Bobble?" Dr. Bell questioned

"My new friend." Clank explained. "My brother's girlfriend's brother. He's nice and all. Really fun too. He seems to really care about me, but he's just…"

"Weird?" Dr. Bell finished for him.

"Yeah!" Clank shouted. "I mean, he's got really weird 'relatives.' And now he's telling me that he's in trouble but won't explain why. Said he doesn't want me to worry or something."

"Well, Clank, that's probably a good thing that he doesn't want you to worry." Dr. Bell said. "So when did you meet this… Bobble?"

"Well, we officially met last Saturday." Clank said. "But the real first time I met him was at this god damn party I went to before school started. He was drunk and doesn't remember meeting me there…" he trailed off. He'd avoided talking about the party to Dr. Bell up til this point.

"Did you think he was weird then?" Dr. Bell asked.

"No, I just thought he was drunk." Clank said. _And maybe I thought he was a good kisser._ He squirmed a little in his seat.

"You haven't mentioned this party before, Clank." Dr. Bell said. "Anything you want to talk about?"

Clank sighed. "Some bad stuff happened… but I dunno if I'm really ready to talk about it."

"That's fine, you can talk when you're ready." Dr. Bell said. "So, anything else happen that you do want to talk about? Maybe tell me about your new friend some more?"

Clank sighed, suddenly missing his old friends. There were no secrets between them. It almost felt like one could sneeze across town and the rest of them would know. Clank missed them. He missed seeing them every day, and he wished he'd spent more time with them. And that made him wish he'd spent more time with his mom.

Clank rattled on about this with Dr. Bell. He also talked about his first few days with Bobble, though he left out the part where his pseudo uncle and grandfather were wanted men. He couldn't stop himself from comparing his new friendship with Bobble to his old friendships back home. He knew he wasn't really being fair, since he'd known them for years and only known Bobble for a few days. Dr. Bell told him he most likely felt this way because he was so accustomed to being completely open with so many people for years that it was hard to not have that anymore. That was pretty much the understatement of the century. It just made Clank want to go home all over again.

When it came time to leave, Dr. Bell told him to give his new friendship some time to grow and maybe he could have that openness again. Clank said he would try and wished Dr. Bell a good evening.

He checked his phone when he got to his car and had a text from Silvermist.

 **Just wanted to make sure you were still coming over. Mom wants to know if you'll be here for dinner.**

Clank texted back **I'm just leaving my appointment, I'll be there in ten.** He wasn't really in the mood for hanging out right now, but he'd promised Sil he'd come. It would be better than going back to Gary's to deal with Vidia anyway. He wondered why she was suddenly acting less high and mighty, and part of him was worried about her. He pushed it out of his mind and headed to Sil's house.

Silvermist was waiting on the front porch for him when he arrived. "Hey Clank! Did you bring your swim trunks?" She asked.

He made a face. "No, of course not. Was I supposed to?"

Silvermist laughed. "No. I'm only joking. Come in! My dad's running a little late, but he'll be home soon."

Sil's mom was in the kitchen making dinner, so Sil brought him to the living room where they had the television turned to a music only station. Classical music played softly, creating a comfortable atmosphere.

"Hello, Clement." Sil's mom said, entering the living room.

"Hi Mrs. Kim. Nice to see you again." Clank said.

"It's good to see you too. I hope you're hungry." She smiled.

"Mom made dumplings." Sil said. "She always makes dumplings when company comes over."

"I remember having dumplings when we were kids." Clank said. "My mom always loved them."

Mrs. Kim's smile faltered slightly. She was about to say something but the front door swung open. "Lucy! I'm home!" Mr. Kim called as he strode inside.

"He's still doing that?" Clank laughed.

"He knows mom hates it." Sil giggled.

"Liu, cut it out." Lucy rolled her eyes. "We have company."

Mr. Kim spotted Clank then. "Oh my, is that Clement Boutin?"

"Yes sir. Good to see you again." Clank said.

Mr. Kim went to Clank and shook his hand, then to Clank's surprise, pulled him into a hug. "Goodness, Clement! You've grown into a mountain of a man! It's great to see you." He said. "Silvia told us about your mother. I'm so sorry, is there anything we can do?"

Clank shook his head. "It's been hard, but I think I'll be okay… eventually."

"That's good." Mr. Kim said.

"But if there's anything at all we can do, Clement. Don't hesitate to ask." Mrs. Kim said.

"Okay." Clank said.

Lucy dragged her husband to the kitchen then to help cook, leaving Clank alone with Silvermist. "So what did you want to talk about?" Clank asked.

"Let's wait til after dinner." Sil said. "Anyway, how was your appointment?"

Clank shrugged. "It was fine I guess." He remembered Sil talking to Bobble in the parking lot after school. "Hey, what were you and Bobble talking about after school?"

"Nothing really." Silvermist said. "I told him you were coming over for dinner, and he told me he had lunch with you."

"Oh." Clank frowned, disappointed.

"Is something wrong?" Sil asked.

"Well, Bobble seemed to be acting a little weird, don't you think?" Clank asked.

"Oh that's nothing. He gets like that sometime." Sil said. "He told me he was having a little trouble with some doctor? But he also said he was working on getting things straightened out."

"Oooh, trouble with a doctor. Okay." Clank said, now feeling slightly less worried now that he had some idea as to what was going on. "Yeah, he told me the same thing. Except the doctor part."

"Yeah, he'll be back to his usual self here in a couple days, I'm sure." Sil assured him.

"Hey you two, come and eat!" Mr. Kim called.

Dinner with Sil's family was nice. Clank loved Mrs. Kim's cooking, something she said hadn't changed about him over the years. Her parents asked Clank what he had been up to since moving back, and how living with Gary was. Clank lied and said living with Gary was fine, but was honest when he said he wished he were still home with Chloe. He insisted on helping with the dishes when the meal was finished, so Sil's parents went out on the back porch for a glass of wine.

"They haven't changed much." Clank said.

Sil closed up the dishwasher. "Yeah, still the same goofy parents as always." She wiped her hands off. "C'mon, lets go for a walk." They headed outside and down the street.

Clank looked up at his old house as they walked by. "Who lives there now?" He asked.

"Some older couple." Sil replied. "I think they're retired. But their daughter comes by about once a month. We might see them out here. They've got a big dog."

"Like what? A pit bull?" Clank asked.

"A Saint Bernard." Sil said. "He's really friendly, but really drooly. If they're walking him, he'll probably try and jump on you."

"Well thanks for the warning." Clank smirked. "So what is it you wanted to talk about?"

Sil frowned then. "Right… I guess we should talk."

"Is something wrong?" Clank asked.

Silvermist shook her head. "I guess I'm just wondering why you lied to me."

Clank stopped walking. "What are you talking about?"

Sil turned to him. "About the party. About Vidia."

Clank fell silent and looked away. "How'd you find out?"

"Bobble told me that she did something to you then. It just made sense." Silvermist said. "Don't worry, I didn't tell Bobble what she did. But I really don't understand why you didn't just tell me in the first place."

He shook his head. "I told myself it was because she was your friend. But to be honest, I'm not actually sure why I lied."

"Have you told anyone else? Besides me, Lance and Hunk?" Sil asked.

"Just Terence."

"Why didn't you tell your dad?" Silvermist asked.

Clank frowned. "I dunno, I just didn't. I can't tell Gary."

"But Vidia's staying at your house this week. Doesn't that bother you?" She asked.

"Of course it does. It's weird for both of us." Clank said, recalling Vidia saying she didn't want to be there either.

"Then why not tell your dad? He could've told Vidia's parents and they could've made other arrangements. And Vidia could've actually been punished for what happened." Sil argued.

Clank scowled at her. "It's not that easy, Sil. I can't talk to Gary about this kind of stuff!"

"Would you have told your mom if she were here?" Sil asked.

"I don't know!" Clank said a little too loud. "But she isn't here, and if she were here than it wouldn't have happened in the first place!"

Silvermist shrunk back and Clank realized he had been shouting. He sighed and slumped his shoulders. "I'm sorry I shouted at you."

"No, it's okay. I'm sorry for goading you." Silvermist said. She hooked her arm around his and coaxed him to walk with her again. "You could stay at my house til Vidia leaves if you want."

"You're the second person to make that offer." Clank said. "Bobble invited me to his place too."

"He certainly got attached to you quickly." Sil chuckled.

"If you suggest I date him I'm gonna throw you in your pool when we get back." Clank grumbled.

"I wasn't going to." Silvermist said, giving him a confused look. "Why have others suggested it?"

"His sisters keep teasing him and keep saying I'd be great for him. And I think Terence is fond of the idea too." Clank sighed.

"But… do YOU like him?" Silvermist asked.

"How the hell should I know? I barely know the guy!" Clank shouted. "I mean I suppose it's possible I could end up liking him? But… you know what, never mind. I don't want to talk about it."

"Hey, you're the one who brought him up." Sil pointed out. "All I did was invite you to stay with me."

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Clank said.

"So, what do you think? Should I set up the guest room?" Sil asked.

"I dunno, Sil." Clank shrugged. "I'm not sure Gary would be okay with it."

Silvermist curled her arm tighter around his. "Then you should take Bobble up on his offer."

"Gary would be less okay with that, I'm sure." He said.

"You could at least ask him." Silvermist said. "The worst he'd say is no, right?"

Clank frowned "Why is this so important to you? It's my problem. Not yours."

She nuzzled his arm slightly. "I just don't want her near you."

"Please don't do that." Clank said, pulling his arm away from her. "And I can handle three more nights with Vidia. Her parents are coming to pick her and Prilla up Saturday morning."

"It just isn't fair that you have to stay with someone so awful!" Sil declared.

Clank grimaced. "Look, Vidia's not actually that bad." He almost didn't believe he'd said it.

"Not that bad? Clank, are you serious?" Sil asked, incredulously.

He scowled. "Yeah, actually, I am. Vidia might be ambitious in getting what she wants, but she's more than that. She's really been trying to be nice to me."

"It doesn't matter how nice she is to you now! It doesn't change what she did!" Sil argued.

"Yeah, but she was drunk!" Clank argued back.

"If anything that makes it worse!" Sil shouted. "She's not old enough to drink!"

"Last I checked neither are you!" Clank spat. "And it's not like you're any better! You wanted the same thing from me!"

"That's not fair!" Sil yelled, voice trembling. "I stopped! She didn't! You even said that yourself! Why are you defending her?"

"Because maybe it's not entirely her fault! I could've stopped her, but I didn't! Maybe some part of me wanted it after all!" Clank yelled.

Sil shook her head. "No! You're lying! You told her no! You have every right to hate her for what happened that night and you're defending her!"

"Well maybe I don't want to hate her!" Clank snapped. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sorry. I'm sorry."

Silvermist sighed, annoyed. "Clank, you're not making any sense."

"I know. I know I'm not." He groaned. "I'm sorry. Can we go back to your house?"

"Yeah, fine." Sil agreed. They turned and continued walking. "So do you really not want to hate Vidia?"

Clank nodded. "Hating people feels awful. Every time I say that I hate someone, it hurts. I dunno, Sil I'm just so confused. I don't like feeling this way. I don't wanna hate her, even if she deserves it."

Sil folded her hands behind her back. "So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know." Clank sighed heavily. "What can I do?"

"Well, you could forgive her." Sil said, sounding like she didn't really agree with that idea herself. Clank wasn't sure he could do that either. He didn't want to hate Vidia, but he didn't think he could forgive her actions.

"I'll figure something out." He sighed. "Hey, what time is it?"

Sil checked her phone. "Almost 8:30"

"I should be getting back to Gary's." Clank sighed.

"You really should ask him if you can stay here." Silvermist said. "It would probably be better for you to figure things out away from Vidia."

"We'll see." Clank said. Silvermist wrapped her arms around him and lay her head on his chest. Clank smoothed her hair down, still thinking about what he should do.

Clank got back to Gary's just before 9. Gary gave him a kind smile when he came in. "Did you have a good time with Silvermist?"

"Yeah, it was fun." Clank shrugged.

"You do your homework while you were there?" Gary asked.

Clank shook his head. "No, I gotta do that now."

Gary nodded and left him alone. Clank felt awful again. He'd said numerous times that he hated Gary, but he didn't. Gary wasn't all that bad either. Rough around the edges and stuck in his ways, but not a bad man like Clank had invented in his mind.

Clank tried to swallow his feelings as he set up at the kitchen table. He could see into the living room Terence and Prilla playing video games and he wondered where Vidia had disappeared to. He shook his head and turned to his assignments and figured he might need his laptop to do all this.

He went up to Terence's room to fetch his computer. His bedroom door was closed and he figured that's where Vidia must be. He heard some muffled chatter on the other side of the door, but ignored it. It wasn't his business. He collected his laptop and headed back to the stairs.

"You don't understand Ro. I did something unforgivable." Vidia's voice carried through the door. Clank paused outside the door. "I can't tell you what I did. Look, just believe me. There's nothing I can do to make up for this. I'm honestly shocked that more people don't know."

Clank frowned and moved on from the stairs. He wondered how long Vidia had been beating herself up over this. He wondered what he should do about it. He sat down to do his homework hearing a whisper in his mind. _Tu n'as rien à faire._


End file.
